Arve joined the NCP in 1994.[4] Between 2010 and 2014 Arve was the chair of the city council of Turku.[1] She worked as the party's general secretary from Oct 2014 to Jan 2016.[5]
Arve was first elected into the city council of Turku in 2004.[5] She has been reelected ever since. In 2017 the city council chose her as the town manager of Turku when her predecessor Aleksi Randell became the CEO of the Finnish construction industry's interest organisation.[2] Next year Kuntalehti, a Finnish magazine on municipal politics, published a comparison of 40 municipal manager's salaries, which placed Arve on the top with gross monthly income of 15,311 euros.[6] In the 2021 municipal election, where she ran as her party's mayoral candidate, Arve got 1510 votes, third most in her party after MPs Petteri Orpo and Ilkka Kanerva.[7]
According to VAA published by Yle in 2021, Arve said that she is for needle exchange for the drug users in Turku, offering free protection to people under 25, and having a pride flag in public buildings.[3]
As Arve became the general secretary of NCP (Oct2014 to Jan2016) she described the party as a big tent with values.[5]
In March 2022, Arve courted controversy when upholding the banning of a Ukrainian flag being flown near the Russian consulate in Turku in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[8]
Mayor of Turku