In 1918, the
Finnish Senate was transformed into the
Finnish Government, and the position of
vice-chairman of the economic division of the Senate was transformed into the position of
prime minister.
Kesäranta (in
Swedish Villa Bjälbo), located in the
Meilahti neighborhood of
Helsinki, has been the official residence of the prime minister of Finland since 1919. Since its independence (declared on 6 December 1917), Finland has had 75 cabinets, including the current one, the longest lasting being the cabinet of Prime Minister
Juha Sipilä, lasting 1,469 days. Before the 1980s, cabinets tended to be short lived; the
president was the most important political figure, and he had the right to form a new cabinet whenever he wanted. From the 1980s onwards, cabinets have tended to serve full terms (although the prime minister changed midterm in a few cases, most of the other cabinet members have remained nearly unchanged) and the prime minister has become more powerful a figure than the president. Under the current constitution, the prime minister is chosen by the
parliament and only formally appointed by the president. ==List of prime ministers==