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.
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 53 members of the National Council and 6 of the Council of States.
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.
Luc Recordon is a Swiss politician. He is a member of the Green Party of Switzerland and represented Vaud in the Swiss National Council from 2003 to 2007 and in the Swiss Council of States from 2007 to 2015.
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.
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.
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 politician,who served as president of Switzerland in 2021,having previously served as vice president of Switzerland in 2020. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC),he has been a member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2016. Parmelin has served as head of the Department of Economic Affairs,Education and Research since 2019,previously heading the Department of Defence,Civil Protection and Sports between 2016 and 2018.
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.
Viola Patricia Amherd is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2019. She is the head of the Federal Department of Defence,Civil Protection and Sport. Amherd was a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) before it merged with the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) to form The Centre (DM/LC) in 2021,which she joined.
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 7 December 2022,after federal councillors Ueli Maurer (SVP-ZH) and Simonetta Sommaruga (SP-BE) announced they would leave the Council effective 31 December of the same year. The parliament elected Albert Rösti and Élisabeth Baume-Schneider respectively to replace them.
