Switzerland is a semi-direct democratic federal republic. The federal legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Federal Assembly: the National Council and the Council of States. The Federal Council holds the executive power and is composed of seven power-sharing Federal Councillors elected by the Federal Assembly. The judicial branch is headed by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, whose judges are elected by the Federal Assembly.
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 62 members of the National Council and 6 of the Council of States.
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.
Hans Kaufmann is a Swiss politician and business consultant. He was a member of the Swiss National Council from 1999 to 2014.
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.
Peter Christoph Spuhler is a Swiss industrialist and politician of the Swiss People's Party, where from 1999 to 2012 he served as a member of the Swiss National Council for the canton of Thurgau. Spuhler was CEO of the family firm Stadler Rail from 1989 to 2017 and again on an ad interim basis from 2020 until 2023. As of April 2019, he held a 40% shareholding in Stadler.
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.
Fritz Hofmann was a Swiss politician. From 1962 to 1987, he was a member of the National Council. He served as the president of the Swiss People's Party (SVP) from 1976 to 1984.
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.
Hans Grunder is a Swiss politician in the Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP).
Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 22 October 2023 to elect all members of the National Council and Council of States. The elections were followed by elections to the Federal Council, Switzerland's government and collegial presidency, on 13 December.
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.
Andreas Alfred Glarner is a Swiss businessman and politician. He currently serves as a member of the National Council (Switzerland) for the Swiss People's Party (SVP), he was also a former member of the Grand Council of Aargau from 2001 to 2015. His archconservative politics can be allocated to the right-wing of his political party. He is primarily known for his immigration politics and the retention of independence, with a certain similarity to the politics of James Schwarzenbach.
Verena Herzog is a Swiss politician who currently serves as a member of the National Council for the Swiss People's Party from the Canton of Thurgau since March 4, 2013.
Diana Gutjahr is a Swiss politician who currently serves as a member of the National Council for the Swiss People's Party from the Canton of Thurgau since November 27, 2017.
