[3] MEP Jussi Halla-aho and Sampo Terho, Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sport, were considered the strongest candidates to succeed him.

[4] Leena Meri and Veera Ruoho, two Members of the Finnish Parliament, and Riku Nevanpää, a local politician, also ran for party chair.

[11] These selections were characterised by newspaper Helsingin Sanomat as a takeover by the anti-immigration wing of the Finns party, from the allegedly more moderate followers of the former leader Soini.

[11] Halla-aho's rise to power was described as a "unique event in Finnish political history" by the Prime Minister and Centre leader Juha Sipilä.

[12] On 12 June, both Sipilä and NCP leader Petteri Orpo tweeted that in their view, they could not carry on co-operating with Halla-aho-led Finns Party.