Leon Schlumpf was a Swiss politician and a former member of the Swiss Federal Council (1979–1987).
The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since after World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand coalition government composed of representatives of the country's major parties and language regions.
Micheline Anne-Marie Calmy-Rey is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), she was the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs during her tenure as a Federal Councillor. She was President of the Swiss Confederation twice, in 2007 and 2011.
Samuel Schmid is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2000 to 2008. He was the head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports.
Christoph Wolfram Blocher is a Swiss industrialist and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2004 to 2007. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he headed the Federal Department of Justice and Police. As an industrialist, he became wealthy as CEO and majority shareholder in the EMS-Chemie corporation, now run by his daughter, Magdalena Martullo-Blocher.
The Swiss People's Party, also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre, is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Marco Chiesa, it is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 62 members of the National Council and 6 of the Council of States.
Doris Leuthard is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2006 to 2018. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), she was elected as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2010 and 2017. Leuthard headed the Federal Department of Economic Affairs until 2010, when she became head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications. As of 19 December 2019 she is a member of the board of the Kofi Annan Foundation and Stadler Rail.
In Swiss politics, the magic formula is an arithmetic formula for dividing the seven executive seats on the Federal Council among the four coalition parties. The formula was first applied in 1959. It gave the Free Democratic Party, the Catholic Conservative Party and the Social Democratic Party two seats each, while the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents received one seat.
On December 12, 2007, all seven members of the Federal Council, the government of Switzerland, were elected by the joint chambers of the Federal Assembly for the 2008–2012 term of office. Councillors are elected individually by an absolute majority of votes, with the incumbent councillors defending their seats in descending order of seniority.
The Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland was a conservative political party in Switzerland from 2008 to 2020. After the 2019 federal election, the BDP had three members in the National Council.
Ulrich "Ueli" Maurer is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2009 to 2022. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2013 and 2019. Formerly head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports (2009–2015), Maurer has headed the Federal Department of Finance from 2016 to 2022. From 2019 to 2022, he was the longest-serving sitting member of the Federal Council.
Two by-elections to the Swiss Federal Council were held in Switzerland on 22 September 2010, after federal councillors Moritz Leuenberger (SP) and Hans-Rudolf Merz announced they would step down from the Federal Council towards the end of the year. The by-elections resulted in the elections of Simonetta Sommaruga from the SP and Johann Schneider-Ammann from the FDP, resulting in no change in the partisan composition of the council. It also resulted in the first majority of women on the Federal Council in its history, with Sommaruga joining Micheline Calmy-Rey, Doris Leuthard and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.
Simonetta Myriam Sommaruga is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2010 to 2022. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS), she was President of the Swiss Confederation in 2015 and 2020.
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, the government of Switzerland, was held on 14 December 2011, following the federal election on 23 October 2011. Micheline Calmy-Rey announced she would not run for re-election to the council. According to a traditional informal convention, the successor has to come from the French-speaking or Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. The candidates for her post announced by their respective cantonal sections are Alain Berset (Fribourg), Pierre-Yves Maillard (Vaud), Stéphane Rossini (Valais), and Marina Carobbio (Ticino).
Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 18 October 2015 for the National Council and the first round of elections to the Council of States, with runoff elections to the Council of States being held in various cantons until 22 November.
Martin Landolt is a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss National Council for the Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP). From May 2012 to December 2020, he served as the President of the BDP.
Guy Bernard Parmelin is a Swiss Federal Councillor and head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he has been a member of the Federal Council since 2016, and has led the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research since 2019. He previously led the Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports between 2016 and 2018. He served as president of Switzerland in 2021, having previously served as vice president of Switzerland in 2020.
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, the Government of Switzerland, was held on 9 December 2015, following the federal election on 19 October 2015, for the 2016–2020 term.
The Centre or Alliance of the Centre is a centre-right political party in Switzerland. It was formed through the merger of the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (CVP/PDC) and the Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP/PBD). Following the formal merger of the parties on 1 January 2021, it has 28 of 200 seats in the National Council and 13 of 46 seats in the Council of States. Viola Amherd is the party's representative on the Federal Council.
By-elections to the Swiss Federal Council were held on 5 December 2018, after federal councillors Johann Schneider-Ammann (FDP-BE) and Doris Leuthard (CVP-AG) announced in September they would leave the Council effective 31 December of the same year.
