The seven members of the Swiss Federal Council (German: Schweizerischer Bundesrat; French: Conseil fédéral suisse; Italian: Consiglio federale svizzero; Romansh: Cussegl federal svizzer) 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.[1]
The current Swiss Federal Councillors are: Guy Parmelin (first elected in 2015), Ignazio Cassis (first elected in 2017), Viola Amherd (first elected in 2018), Karin Keller-Sutter (first elected in 2018), Albert Rösti (first elected in 2022), Élisabeth Baume-Schneider (first elected in 2022), and Beat Jans (first elected in 2023)
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. People elected to the Federal Council are considered a Federal Councillor even if they decline the election.[2] Accordingly, the five persons who were elected but never assumed office are listed in a separate table below. For the same reason, the principal table only records the date of election and not the date on which the Federal Councillors assumed their office.
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. The Federal Assembly has decided not to reelect a sitting Federal Councillor four times and only twice (in 2003 and 2007) since the beginning of the 20th century. In practice, therefore, Federal Councillors serve until they decide to resign and retire to private life, usually after three to five terms of office.
| № | Name | Portrait | Canton[3] | Election | Left office | Department headed[4] | Party | Presidency | Notes | Seq[5] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1848–1849 1852 1855 1858 | Died in office. | A01 | ||||||||
| 2 | BE | — | Not reelected. | B01 | |||||||
| 3 | 1850 | Died in office. | C01 | ||||||||
| 4 | 1851 | Died in office. | D01 | ||||||||
| 5 | — | Died in office. | E01 | ||||||||
| 6 | 1854 1860 | F01 | |||||||||
| 7 | 1853 | G01 | |||||||||
| 8 | 1856 1859 1862 | B02 | |||||||||
| 9 | 1857 1863 1867 | C02 | |||||||||
| 10 | 1861 1866 | Elected after Johann Jakob Stehlin declined the election. | D02 | ||||||||
| 11 | — | E02 | |||||||||
| 12 | 1864 1868 1870 | A02 | |||||||||
| 13 | 1865 1871 1874 1878 1885 1893 | Died in office. Longest serving member. | B03 | ||||||||
| 14 | — | Not reelected. | E03 | ||||||||
| 15 | 1869 1872 1876 1880 1884 1891 | F02 | |||||||||
| 16 | — | Died in office. | C03 | ||||||||
| 17 | 1873 | C04 | |||||||||
| 18 | 1875 | Died in office. | A03 | ||||||||
| 19 | — | E04 | |||||||||
| 20 | 1877 | D03 | |||||||||
| 21 | — | Died in office (committed suicide). | G02 | ||||||||
| 22 | 1879 1889 | E05 | |||||||||
| 23 | 1881 1887 | Elected after Louis Ruchonnet and Charles Estoppey declined the election. | C05 | ||||||||
| 24 | 1882 | D04 | |||||||||
| 25 | 1888 | Died in office. | A04 | ||||||||
| 26 | 1883 1890 | Elected after Karl Hoffmann declined his election. Died in office. | G03 | ||||||||
| 27 | 1886 1897 1903 1909 | Died in office. | D05 | ||||||||
| 28 | 1892 1900 | Died in office. | A05 | ||||||||
| 29 | 1894 | E06 | |||||||||
| 30 | 1895 1902 | F03 | |||||||||
| 31 | 1896 | C06 | |||||||||
| 32 | 1898 | G04 | |||||||||
| 33 | 1899 1907 1913 | Died in office. | B04 | ||||||||
| 34 | 1901 1908 | Died in office. | E07 | ||||||||
| 35 | 1904 1910 | C07 | |||||||||
| 36 | 1905 1911 | G05 | |||||||||
| 37 | 1906 1912 | A06 | |||||||||
| 38 | — | F04 | |||||||||
| 39 | 1914 | E08 | |||||||||
| 40 | 1915 1920 1927 1932 1937 | Died in office. | F05 | ||||||||
| 41 | — | C08 | |||||||||
| 42 | 1916 | G06 | |||||||||
| 43 | 1917 1921 1928 1933 | D06 | |||||||||
| 44 | 1918 | C09 | |||||||||
| 45 | bgcolor=grey | 1919 | E09 | ||||||||
| 46 | 1922 1929 | A07 | |||||||||
| 47 | 1923 | Died in office. | B05 | ||||||||
| 48 | 1924 | G07 | |||||||||
| 49 | 1925 1930 | E10 | |||||||||
| 50 | 1926 1931 | C10 | |||||||||
| 51 | 1934 1940 | G08 | |||||||||
| 52 | 1935 | B06 | |||||||||
| 53 | 1936 | A08 | |||||||||
| 54 | 1938 | C11 | |||||||||
| 55 | 1939 1942 1947 1953 | E11 | |||||||||
| 56 | — | D07 | |||||||||
| 57 | 1941 | A09 | |||||||||
| 58 | 1943 1948 | F06 | |||||||||
| 59 | 1944 | D08 | |||||||||
| 60 | 1945 1951 | B07 | |||||||||
| 61 | 1946 1952 | C12 | |||||||||
| 62 | 1949 | A10 | |||||||||
| 63 | 1950 1955 1960 | G09 | |||||||||
| 64 | 1954 | D09 | |||||||||
| 65 | — | F07 | |||||||||
| 66 | 1956 | B08 | |||||||||
| 67 | — | A11 | |||||||||
| 68 | 1957 | A12 | |||||||||
| 69 | 1958 | F08 | |||||||||
| 70 | 1959 1962 | D10 | |||||||||
| 71 | — | C13 | |||||||||
| 72 | 1961 | B09 | |||||||||
| 73 | — | E12 | |||||||||
| 74 | 1963 1968 | A13 | |||||||||
| 75 | 1964 1969 | F09 | |||||||||
| 76 | 1965 1970 | C14 | |||||||||
| 77 | 1966 | G10 | |||||||||
| 78 | 1967 1973 | E13 | |||||||||
| 79 | 1971 1976 | B10 | |||||||||
| 80 | 1972 | D11 | |||||||||
| 81 | 1975 | A14 | |||||||||
| 82 | 1974 | G11 | |||||||||
| 83 | 1977 1981 1985 | F10 | |||||||||
| 84 | 1978 | Died in office. | C15 | ||||||||
| 85 | 1979 | E14 | |||||||||
| 86 | 1980 | D12 | |||||||||
| 87 | 1982 | G12 | |||||||||
| 88 | 1983 1987 | A15 | |||||||||
| 89 | 1984 | B11 | |||||||||
| 90 | 1986 | E15 | |||||||||
| 91 | — | G13 | |||||||||
| 92 | 1988 1994 | C16 | |||||||||
| 93 | 1989 1996 | D13 | |||||||||
| 94 | — | First female Federal Councillor. | G14 | ||||||||
| 95 | 1990 1997 | F11 | |||||||||
| 96 | 1991 1998 | E16 | |||||||||
| 97 | 1992 | A16 | |||||||||
| 98 | 1993 2000 | B12 | |||||||||
| 99 | 1995 2002 | G15 | |||||||||
| 100 | 1999 | Elected after Francis Matthey declined the election. | A17 | ||||||||
| 101 | 2001 2006 | C17 | |||||||||
| 102 | 2003 2008 | D14 | |||||||||
| 103 | — | Not reelected. | F12 | ||||||||
| 104 | 2004 | E17 | |||||||||
| 105 | [7] | 2005 | Switched to the BDP/PBD in 2008. | B13 | |||||||
| 106 | 2007 2011 | A18 | |||||||||
| 107 | — | Not reelected.[8] | F13 | ||||||||
| 108 | 2009 | G16 | |||||||||
| 109 | 2010 2017 | E18 | |||||||||
| 110 | 2012 | First elected for the SVP/UDC, switched in 2008. | F14 | ||||||||
| 111 | 2013 2019 | B14 | |||||||||
| 112 | 2014 | D15 | |||||||||
| 113 | 2015 2020 | C18 | |||||||||
| 114 | 2016 | G17 | |||||||||
| 115 | 2018 2023 | A19 | |||||||||
| 116 | Incumbent | 2021 | F15 | ||||||||
| 117 | Incumbent | 2022 | D16 | ||||||||
| 118 | Incumbent | 2024 | The CVP/PDC merged into The Centre in 2021. | E19 | |||||||
| 119 | Incumbent | – | G18 | ||||||||
| 120 | Incumbent | – | B15 | ||||||||
| 121 | Incumbent | – | C19 | ||||||||
| 122 | Incumbent | – | A20 |
Five people have declined their election to the Federal Council by the Federal Assembly. Their number here is that of the Federal Councillor in the list above who was later elected in their place.