List of members of the Swiss Federal Council by date explained

This is a list of members of the Swiss Federal Council,[1] in chronological order and for any given year since inauguration of the Federal Council, from 1848 to present. Its seven members constitute the federal government of Switzerland and collectively serve as the country's head of state. Each of the seven Federal Councillors heads a department of the Swiss federal administration.[2]

The members of the Federal Council are elected for a term of four years by both chambers of the federal parliament sitting together as the United Federal Assembly. Each Federal Councillor is elected individually by secret ballot by an absolute majority of votes.[3] Once elected for a four-year-term, Federal Councillors can neither be voted out of office by a motion of no confidence nor can they be impeached. Reelection is possible for an indefinite number of terms. Parliament has decided not to reelect a sitting Federal Councillor only four times and only twice (in 2003 and 2007) since 1872. In practice, therefore, Federal Councillors serve until they decide to resign and retire to private life, usually after three to five terms of office.

Chronological, global

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DecadeFirst day in office[4] Federal Councillors
184816 November 1848Ulrich Ochsenbein[5] Jonas FurrerJosef MunzingerHenri DrueyFriedrich Frey-HeroséWilhelm Matthias NaeffStefano Franscini
1850s
31 December 1854Jakob Stämpfli
11 July 1855[6] Constant Fornerod
14 July 1855Melchior Josef Martin Knüsel
30 July 1857Giovanni Battista Pioda
1860s
30 July 1861Jakob Dubs
31 December 1863Karl Schenk
12 July 1864Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel
31 December 1866Emil Welti
31 October 1867Victor Ruffy
1870s
1 February 1870Paul Cérésole
28 May 1872Johann Jakob Scherer
31 December 1872Eugène Borel
31 December 1875[7] Joachim HeerNuma DrozFridolin AnderwertBernhard Hammer
31 December 1878Simeon Bavier
1880s
3 March 1881Louis Ruchonnet
10 April 1883Adolf Deucher
13 December 1888Wilhelm Friedrich Hertenstein
1890s
31 December 1890Emil Frey
31 December 1891Josef Zemp
31 December 1892Adrien Lachenal
14 December 1893Eugène Ruffy
16 August 1895Eduard MüllerWalter Hauser
31 March 1897Ernst Brenner
14 December 1899Marc-Emile Ruchet
1900s31 December 1899Robert Comtesse
11 December 1902Ludwig Forrer
17 June 1908Josef Anton Schobinger
1910s
4 April 1911Arthur Hoffmann
14 December 1911Giuseppe Motta
12 March 1912Louis Perrier
17 July 1912Edmund SchulthessCamille Decoppet
12 June 1913Felix-Louis Calonder
26 June 1917Gustave Ador
31 December 1917Robert Haab
11 December 1919Karl Scheurer
31 December 1919Ernest ChuardJean-Marie Musy
1920s
12 February 1920Heinrich Häberlin
31 December 1928Marcel Pilet-Golaz
12 December 1929Rudolf MingerAlbert Meyer
1930s
30 April 1934Johannes BaumannPhilipp Etter
15 April 1935Hermann Obrecht
31 December 1938Ernst Wetter
1940s
22 February 1940Enrico Celio
31 July 1940
10 December 1940Eduard von SteigerWalther Stampfli
31 December 1940Karl Kobelt
31 December 1943Ernst Nobs
31 December 1944Max Petitpierre
31 December 1947Rodolphe Rubattel
1950s
15 October 1950Josef Escher
13 December 1951Markus Feldmann
31 December 1951Max Weber
9 December 1954Thomas Holenstein
31 December 1954Hans StreuliPaul ChaudetGiuseppe Lepori
11 December 1958Friedrich Traugott Wahlen
1960s31 December 1959[8] Willy SpühlerHans-Peter TschudiLudwig von MoosJean Bourgknecht
30 June 1961Hans Schaffner
30 September 1962Roger Bonvin
31 December 1965Rudolf Gnägi
31 December 1966Nello Celio
1970s31 December 1969Ernst Brugger
31 January 1970Pierre Graber
31 December 1971Kurt Furgler
1 December 1973Willi Ritschard
31 December 1973Georges-André ChevallazHans Hürlimann
31 January 1978Pierre AubertFritz Honegger
1980s31 December 1979Leon Schlumpf
31 December 1982Rudolf FriedrichAlphons Egli
7 December 1983Otto Stich
31 December 1983Jean-Pascal Delamuraz
20 October 1984Elisabeth Kopp
31 December 1986Arnold KollerFlavio Cotti
31 December 1987Adolf OgiRené Felber
12 January 1989Kaspar Villiger
1990s1 January 1990
1 April 1993Ruth Dreifuss
1 November 1995Moritz Leuenberger
1 April 1998Pascal Couchepin
1 May 1999Ruth MetzlerJoseph Deiss
2000s
1 January 2001Samuel Schmid
1 January 2003Micheline Calmy-Rey
1 January 2004[9] Christoph BlocherHans-Rudolf Merz
1 August 2006Doris Leuthard
1 January 2008Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf
1 November 2008[10] Samuel SchmidEveline Widmer-Schlumpf
1 January 2009Ueli Maurer
1 November 2009Didier Burkhalter
2010s
1 November 2010Simonetta SommarugaJohann Schneider-Ammann
1 January 2012Alain Berset

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1 January 2016Guy Parmelin
1 November 2017Ignazio Cassis
1 January 2019Karin Keller-SutterViola Amherd

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2020s<-- The councilor below this line is still in office,ROWSPAN needs updating when a newly elected is added -->
1 January 2021Viola Amherd
1 January 2023Albert RöstiÉlisabeth Baume-Schneider

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1 January 2024Beat Jans
31 December 2006TBA

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References

Notes and References

  1. German: link=no|Schweizerischer Bundesrat, French: link=no|Conseil fédéral suisse, Italian: Consiglio federale svizzero, Romansh: Cussegl federal svizzer.
  2. 101. 101. 177. 7 February 1999. Swiss Federal Constitution. Bundesverfassung. BV. Constitution fédérale. Cst.. Costituzione federale. Cost..
  3. This is the prevailing reading of the relevant constitutional provision: 101. 101. 175. 7 February 1999. Swiss Federal Constitution. Bundesverfassung. BV. Constitution fédérale. Cst.. Costituzione federale. Cost..
  4. Members are elected by federal parliament for a four-year term and traditionally re-elected. If the predecessor died in office, date of election, otherwise – if available – first day in office.
  5. Not reelected (Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel, Ulrich Ochsenbein, Ruth Metzler, Christoph Blocher)
  6. The office was previously declined by the first person elected:
  7. Exceptionally low representation of the French and Italian speaking cantons, compared to the German speaking ones (1:6). In recent years, those were overrepresented 3:4 (proportional to their population). Currently, the 2:5 proportion is close to the population proportion.
  8. Traditional "magic formula" of the Council's composition established: FDP/PRD 2, CVP/PDC 2, SPS/PSS 2, SVP/UDC 1.
  9. Government composition changed for the first time since 1959: FDP/PRD 2, SPS/PSS 2, SVP/UDC 2, CVP/PDC 1.
  10. In June 2008, parts of the SVP/UDC broke away to later form the new BDP/PBD. In this process, the two Federal Councillors who had been elected for the SVP/UDC became members of the BDP/PBD.

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