Centre-right party ahead in Finnish presidential election

Liberal Green party is a close second and goes through to second round, while far-right Finns have been knocked out

Finland's former prime minister Alexander Stubb and the country's former foreign minister Pekka Haavisto have progressed through to the second round of the presidential elections, knocking out a rightwing populist candidate.

With all votes counted, Stubb, of the centre-right National Coalition party, had won 27.2% of votes, while the liberal candidate Haavisto, a member of the Green party who is running as an independent, had secured 25.8%, election officials said.