[11] With over 600 representatives, the foundational meeting of NCP declared the following: A national coalition is needed over old party lines that have lost meaning and have too long separated similarly thinking citizens.

"[12]The party sought to accomplish their task by advocating for constitutional monarchy and, failing that, strong governmental powers within a republican framework.

On the other hand, their goal was to implement a number of social and economic reforms, such as compulsory education, universal health care, and progressive income and property taxation.

The Communists, backed by the Soviet leaders, accelerated their activities while the ideological position of the National Coalition Party shifted over to very conservative.

[9][10][11] In the 1933 parliamentary election, the party formed an electoral coalition with the Patriotic People's Movement, founded by former supporters of the radical and nationalist Lapua Movement—even though P.E.

Svinhufvud, the party's first President of Finland, played a key role in halting the Lapua Movement and vanquishing their Mäntsälä rebellion.

The NCP broke ties with the Patriotic People's Movement in 1934 under their newly elected party chair, Juho Kusti Paasikivi, but were nevertheless shut out from the Finnish Government until the outbreak of the Winter War in 1939, only slowly managing to regain their support.

The 1950s were also a time of ideological shifts, as the emphasis on individual liberty and free market reforms increased at the expense of social conservatism and maintenance of a strong government.

[10][11][17] During the long years in opposition, the party's support grew steadily and in 1987 it attained the best parliamentary election result in its history so far.

During Holkeri's time in office, the Finnish economy suffered a downturn, precipitated by a multitude of factors, and the 1991 parliamentary election resulted in a loss.

[10][11] After losing six seats in the 2003 parliamentary election, the National Coalition Party spent the next electoral period in opposition.

Upon taking office, Niinistö intended to strengthen interaction with the United States and China and maintain good relations with Russia as well as address the European debt crisis.

[24] Katainen was replaced by Alexander Stubb as chair of the National Coalition Party in the June 2014 leadership election and thus became the prime minister.

[26] During his term, Stubb faced growing criticism for the NCP's poor poll results, the declining economy as well as compromises in the three-party government.

[3][41][42][43] Despite the fact that it was previously considered to be critical of the Nordic welfare model, campaigning for strict doctrines of economic liberalism, in the 1970s the party shifted to supporting more social liberal policies, such as increased social security, which was justified by the increase of individual liberty,[32] although, in more recent years, some have accused the party of adopting more critical views of the welfare state and of embracing more fiscally conservative positions,[44] in addition to the abandoning of their socially liberal and green values in order to move votes away from the growing Finns Party towards themselves.

For decades, the party advocated for Finnish membership in NATO,[47] and supported the country's accession to the alliance in 2023, despite being in opposition at the time.

The magazine Suomen Kuvalehti created a profile of a typical National Coalition Party voter from over 18,000 interviews in 2011: a 36-year-old lawyer or management consultant living with a family in the Helsinki metropolitan area who supports economic liberalism, conservative values and enjoys alpine skiing and golf.

[53][54] The main structure of the National Coalition Party comprises municipal and local chapters organized into districts and as well as the women's, student and youth wings.

[55] Two foundations, Kansallissäätiö and Porvarillisen Työn Arkiston Säätiö, assist the party with a source of funding and as an archive, respectively.

[59] Additionally, some thematic organizations report themselves as close to the party, such as the Swedish-language group Borgerlig samling i Finland[60] and the queer network Kansallinen sateenkaariryhmä – Kasary.