Mari Kiviniemi (left), Finland's prime minister and Centre Party leader, and Jyrki Katainen, finance minister

Mari Kiviniemi, Finland's prime minister and Centre Party leader, and Jyrki Katainen, finance minister and National Coalition leader, are the clear favourites for Finland's next prime minister, Finnish tabloid Iltalehti reported on Monday.

The survey by Iltalehti asked respondents which candidate would make the best prime minister for the next government.

Some 28 per cent of respondents answered that Katainen would make the best prime minister, while 21 per cent of respondents supported Kiviniemi.

Support for Jutta Urpilainen, Social Democratic Party leader, was limited to 6 per cent.

Of the respondents, some 36 per cent did not know which candidate to name.

Polling company Taloustutkimus interviewed around 960 people last week. The margin of error was stated to be around 3 percentage points.

STT
Lehtikuva - Petra Piitulainen