On 20 October 2019, Swiss voters chose members of the 200-member National Council (parliament) and 46-member Council of States (upper house).
Parties winning the greatest number of seats in the National Council were the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) – 53 seats (-12), the Swiss Socialists Party (PS/SP) – 39 seats (-4) , the Liberal Radical Party (PLR/FDP) – 29 seats (-4), the Green Party – 28 seats (+17), the Christian Democratic People’s Party (PDC/CVP) – 25 seats (-3) and the Liberal Green Party – 16 seats (+9), according to RTS.
The biggest gainers compared to the previous election in 2015 were the Green Party (+17) and the Liberal Green Party (+9). The parties losing the most ground were the Swiss People’s Party (-12), the Swiss Socialist Party (-4), the Liberal Radical Party (PLR/FDP) (-4) and the Christian Democratic People’s Party (PDC/CVP) (-3). While the Mouvement citoyens genevois (MCG) lost the one seat it had leaving it unrepresented in the federal parliament.
The most significant shift was the Green Party moving into fourth place leapfrogging the Christian Democratic People’s Party (PDC/CVP). This matters because the Federal Council, Switzerland’s 7-member executive, has traditionally drawn members from the main parties, a convention known as the magic formula. Currently there is one Federal Council members from the PDC, a party now in fifth place, and none from the Green Party, now in fourth place.
The percentage of women in the National Council rose from 32% (64 seats) to 42% (84 seats). This is well ahead of the percentages in the UK (32%) and the US (23%). The world average in 2018 was 24%, according to World Bank data.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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