The election followed the parliamentary reform of 1906 which replaced the Diet of Finland, which was based on the Estates and had its institutional roots in the period of Swedish reign, with a modern unicameral parliament of 200 MPs.

This coincided with similar development in Russia which too saw a general strike and, after the Russo-Japanese War, the birth of a new institution, the Duma.

Previously only New Zealand and South Australia had approved universal female suffrage, and Finland was the second to grant women the right to stand as candidates.

The results of the first parliamentary election in Finnish history were somewhat a surprise for the traditional parties; the Social Democrats emerged as clear winners, winning 80 of the 200 seats, making them the largest faction in Parliament.

As a result of the election the representatives of workers and the landless people (the Social Democrats) became the largest group in the parliament, whereas previously they had no political representation whatsoever in the legislative body.

They included Lucina Hagman, Miina Sillanpää, Anni Huotari, Hilja Pärssinen, Hedvig Gebhard, Ida Aalle-Teljo, Mimmi Kanervo, Eveliina Ala-Kulju, Hilda Käkikoski, Liisi Kivioja, Sandra Lehtinen, Dagmar Neovius, Maria Raunio, Alexandra Gripenberg, Iida Vemmelpuu, Maria Laine, Jenny Upari and Hilma Räsänen.

Newly elected MPs Lucina Hagman and Maikki Friberg together with Olga Oinola, Aldyth Hultin, Mathilda von Troil, Ellinor Ingman-Ivalo, Sofia Streng and Olga Österberg founded the Finnish Women's Association's first branch in Helsinki.

As a result, many Socialist supporters lost their initially high hopes for the parliament elected by universal suffrage.

On the reverse, two stylized faces in the centre part, one male and the other female, separated by a thin curved line is depicted.