The Green League achieved its best results ever, but the Swedish People's Party suffered losses.

The Left Alliance continued its slow decline, while the small populist Finns Party did not do as well as some had expected.

Any Finnish citizen over the age of 18 was eligible for candidacy, apart from incapacitated persons and professional soldiers.

The Council of State, or the Finnish cabinet, was formed after the parliamentary election by the Centre Party, with its leader Anneli Jäätteenmäki as Prime Minister.

However, this proved to be one of the shortest-lived cabinets in Finnish history, lasting only 69 days, after the Iraq leak scandal led to the government falling on 24 June 2003.