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.
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.
Joseph Deiss is a Swiss economist and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1999 to 2006. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), he first headed the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (1999–2002) before transferring to the Federal Department of Economic Affairs (2003–2006). Deiss was elected President of the United Nations General Assembly for its 65th session in 2010.
Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 19 October 2003. Although in Switzerland's political system, in which all four major parties form a coalition, it is very difficult to achieve a change of government, this election produced an upset with the strong showing of the right-wing, anti-European Union and anti-immigration Swiss People's Party. The left-wing parties, the Social Democrats and the Greens, also improved their positions. The losers were the parties of the centre and centre-right, the Christian Democratic People's Party and the Free Democratic Party.
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 Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, also called the Christian Democratic Party, Democratic People's Party and Swiss Christian Democratic Party, was a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. On 1 January 2021, it merged with the Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP/PBD) to form The Centre, which now operates at the federal level. The Christian Democratic People's Party will continue to exist at the cantonal level as individual local and regional parties determine their status. Its 28 seats in the National Council and 13 seats in the Council of States were transferred to the new party, as was its sole seat on the Federal Council, held by Viola Amherd.
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.
Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 November 2007. For the 48th legislative term of the federal parliament (2007–2011), voters in 26 cantons elected all 200 members of the National Council as well as 43 out of 46 members of the Council of States. The other three members of the Council of States for that term of service were elected at an earlier date.
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.
Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2008 to 2015. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) until 2008, she was then a member of the splinter Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) until 2021, when that party merged into The Centre. Widmer-Schlumpf was the head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police from 2008 to 2010, when she became head of the Federal Department of Finance. She served as President of the Swiss Confederation in 2012.
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.
On 10 December 2008, the Swiss Federal Assembly elected Ueli Maurer as successor to Federal Councillor Samuel Schmid. Schmid resigned on 12 November 2008 after a number of controversies, officially citing health and personal reasons. Maurer took office on 1 January 2009.
The Swiss Federal Council is elected by the 246 members of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland by secret ballot. Regular elections take place every four years, in the first session following the Swiss federal elections. Additionally, an election is held to replace Federal Councillors who have announced their retirement or who have died in office.
Elections to the Swiss Federal Council were held on 10 December 2003 to elect all seven of Switzerland's Federal Council. The 246 members of the United Federal Assembly elect the seven members individually by an absolute majority of votes, with the members serving for four years, beginning on 1 January 2004, or until resigning.
Karin Keller-Sutter is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2019. A member of FDP. The Liberals, she is the head of the Federal Department of Finance. Keller-Sutter previously served as President of the Council of States for the 2017–2018 term, and has served as vice president of Switzerland for the 2024 term since 1 January.
Ruth Grossenbacher-Schmid is a Swiss politician of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP). She was a member of the National Council for the canton of Solothurn from 1991 to 1999.
The Centre is a centre/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 29 of 200 seats in the National Council and 15 of 46 seats in the Council of States. Viola Amherd is the party's representative on the Federal Council.
