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 Marcel Dettling,it is the largest party in the Federal Assembly,with 62 members of the National Council and 6 of the Council of States.
The Green Liberal Party of Switzerland,is a green-liberal political party in Switzerland. Founded in 2007,the party holds eleven seats in the Federal Assembly as of the October 2023 election.
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.
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.
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.
Elections were held to the Council of States of Switzerland in October and November 2007 as part of the 2007 federal election. All 46 members of the Council of States were elected from all cantons of Switzerland. The first round was held on 21 October. In eight cantons,not all seats were filled in the first round,and a second round was held on 11 November,18 November,or 25 November.
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.
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.
Albert Rösti is a Swiss businessman,lobbyist and politician who has been a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 1 January 2023. He previously presided over the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) from 2016 to 2020 and served as a member of the National Council for the canton of Bern from 2011 until 2022. Rösti resides in Uetendorf near Thun.
Marco Chiesa is a Swiss politician who presided over the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) from 2020 to 2024. He served as a member of the Grand Council of Ticino from 2007 to 2015 and National Council from 2015 to 2019. Chiesa has been a member of the Council of States since 2019.
A by-election to the Swiss Federal Council was held on 20 September 2017,after federal councillor Didier Burkhalter (FDP-NE) announced he would leave the Council effective 31 October 2017. The by-election resulted in the election of Ignazio Cassis (FDP-TI),resulting in no change in the partisan composition of the council.
Hans-Ueli Vogt is a Swiss jurist. He is a law professor at the University of Zurich and a politician of the Swiss People's Party (SVP). He was a member of the National Council between 2015 and 2021 and announced his candidacy to the Federal Council in October 2022.
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.
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council,Switzerland's government,were held on 13 December 2023 for the 2024–2028 term. It followed the federal election held a month earlier and partly depended on its results.
Mike Andreas Egger is a Swiss politician who currently serves as a member of the National Council (Switzerland) for the Swiss People's Party since 2019. He previously served on the Cantonal Council of St. Gallen representing the Rheintal district from 2012 to 2017.
Esther Barbara Friedli is a Swiss politician who currently serves on the Council of States (Switzerland) on 30 April 2023 and assumed office on 30 May 2023. She previously served on the National Council (Switzerland) for the Swiss People's Party since 2019. She is the domestic partner of Toni Brunner,former president of the Swiss People's Party and also a member of the National Council. Between 2008 and 2014,Friedli served as the secretary general of the Department of Education of the Canton of St. Gallen.
