Ville Itälä

Ville Itälä (b. 1959) is a Finnish politician. He was elected member of the Finnish Parliament (Eduskunta) from the district of Finland Proper in 1995. Itälä served as the Minister of Interior under Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen in 2000–2003. He was elected chairman of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) in 2001. Following his resignation as party leader in 2004, he was succeeded by Jyrki Katainen. Itälä became a Member of the European Parliament in 2004.