Sanna Marin concedes defeat in Finland election as SDP beaten into third place

Right-wing NCP and nationalist Finns pull narrowly ahead of ruling Social Democrats with 96% of votes counted

Finland’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, has lost her battle to stay in power after her centre-left Social Democratic party (SDP) was narrowly beaten into third place in a cliffhanger election by its conservative and far-right rivals.

With 96% of votes counted on Sunday, the right-wing National Coalition party was on course to secure 20.7% of the vote, with the populist, nation-first Finns party predicted to score 20.1%. Marin’s SDP was forecast to collect 19.9%. Marin conceded defeat shortly after those figures were released.