Direct democracy

Political parties in the Federal Council and in Parliament

Switzerland’s political landscape comprises many different parties, of which none holds a majority at federal level. In the 2019–2023 legislature period, twelve political parties are represented in the National Council. Five of those are also represented in the Council of States, four in the Federal Council.

At the 2019 federal elections, the two ecological parties made the largest gains: The Greens won an additional 17 seats and the glp 9 seats. Although the SVP lost the most number of seats – 12 in all – it remains the strongest party in the National Council. The other parties represented in the Federal Council also lost seats: the SP and FDP both lost 4 seats, while the CVP lost 2 seats.

SVP - Swiss People's Party

Marco Chiesa Party President www.svp.ch

Share of voters25.6%

Federal Council2

National Council53

Council of States6

SP - Swiss Social Democratic Party

Mattea Meyer and Cédric Wermuth Co-Presidents www.sp-ps.ch

Share of voters16.8%

Federal Council2

National Council39

Council of States9

FDP - FDP.The Liberals

Thierry Burkart Party President www.fdp.ch

Share of voters15.1%

Federal Council2

National Council29

Council of States12

The Centre

Gerhard Pfister Party President www.die-mitte.ch

Share of voters13.8%

Federal Council1

National Council28

Council of States13

Following the merger of the CVP and the BDP, the new party will be known as 'The Centre' from 1.1.2021. At the 2019 elections, the parties achieved the following results:

Share of the vote
CVP: 11,4%
BDP: 2,4%
No. of National Council seats
CVP: 25
BDP: 3