This is a list of members of the Swiss Federal Council (German: Schweizerischer Bundesrat, French: Conseil fédéral suisse, Italian: Consiglio federale svizzero, Romansh: Cussegl federal svizzer), in chronological order and for any given year since inauguration of the federal council, from 1848 to present. The Council's seven members constitute the federal government of Switzerland and serve as the country's head of state. Each of the seven Councillors heads a department of the Swiss federal administration.[1]
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 Federal Assembly. Each Councillor is elected individually by secret ballot by an absolute majority of votes. A person elected to the Council by the Federal Assembly is considered a Federal Councillor even if he or she declines the election.[2] Accordingly, the five persons who did so and 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 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. Re-election is possible for an indefinite number of terms. Parliament has decided not to re-elect a sitting Councillor only four times, and only twice (in 2003 and 2007) since the beginning of the 20th century. In practice, therefore, Councillors serve until they decide to resign and retire to private life, usually after three to five terms of office.[3]
Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) Liberal Party (LPS/PLS) Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) Social Democratic Party (SPS/PSS)
Decade | First day in office[4] | Federal councilors | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1848 | 16 November 1848 |
Ulrich Ochsenbein[5] | Jonas Furrer | Josef Munzinger | Henri Druey | Friedrich Frey-Herosé | Wilhelm Matthias Naeff | Stefano Franscini |
1850s | ||||||||
31 December 1854 | Jakob Stämpfli | |||||||
11 July 1855 [6] | Constant Fornerod | |||||||
14 July 1855 | Melchior Josef Martin Knüsel | |||||||
30 July 1857 | Giovanni Battista Pioda | |||||||
1860s | ||||||||
30 July 1861 | Jakob Dubs | |||||||
31 December 1863 | Karl Schenk | |||||||
12 July 1864 | Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel [5] | |||||||
31 December 1866 | Emil Welti | |||||||
31 October 1867 | Victor Ruffy | |||||||
1870s | ||||||||
1 February 1870 | Paul Cérésole | |||||||
28 May 1872 | Johann Jakob Scherer | |||||||
31 December 1872 | Eugène Borel | |||||||
31 December 1875 [6] [7] | Joachim Heer | Numa Droz | Fridolin Anderwert | Bernhard Hammer | ||||
31 December 1878[7] | Simeon Bavier | |||||||
1880s | ||||||||
3 March 1881 [6] | Louis Ruchonnet | |||||||
10 April 1883 | Adolf Deucher | |||||||
13 December 1888 | Wilhelm Friedrich Hertenstein | |||||||
1890s | ||||||||
31 December 1890 | Emil Frey | |||||||
31 December 1891 | Josef Zemp | |||||||
31 December 1892 | Adrien Lachenal | |||||||
14 December 1893 | Eugène Ruffy | |||||||
16 August 1895 | Eduard Müller | Walter Hauser | ||||||
31 March 1897 | Ernst Brenner | |||||||
14 December 1899 | Marc-Emile Ruchet | |||||||
1900s | 31 December 1899 | Robert Comtesse | ||||||
11 December 1902 | Ludwig Forrer | |||||||
17 June 1908 | Josef Anton Schobinger | |||||||
1910s | ||||||||
4 April 1911 | Arthur Hoffmann | |||||||
14 December 1911 | Giuseppe Motta | |||||||
12 March 1912 | Louis Perrier | |||||||
17 July 1912 | Edmund Schulthess | Camille Decoppet | ||||||
12 June 1913 | Felix-Louis Calonder | |||||||
26 June 1917 | Gustave Ador | |||||||
31 December 1917 | Robert Haab | |||||||
11 December 1919 | Karl Scheurer | |||||||
31 December 1919 | Ernest Chuard | Jean-Marie Musy | ||||||
1920s | ||||||||
12 February 1920 | Heinrich Häberlin | |||||||
31 December 1928 | Marcel Pilet-Golaz | |||||||
12 December 1929 | Rudolf Minger | Albert Meyer | ||||||
1930s | ||||||||
30 April 1934 | Johannes Baumann | Philipp Etter | ||||||
15 April 1935 | Hermann Obrecht | |||||||
31 December 1938 | Ernst Wetter | |||||||
1940s | ||||||||
22 February 1940 | Enrico Celio | |||||||
31 July 1940 | ||||||||
10 December 1940 | Eduard von Steiger | Walther Stampfli | ||||||
31 December 1940 | Karl Kobelt | |||||||
31 December 1943 | Ernst Nobs | |||||||
31 December 1944 | Max Petitpierre | |||||||
31 December 1947 | Rodolphe Rubattel | |||||||
1950s | ||||||||
15 October 1950 | Josef Escher | |||||||
13 December 1951 | Markus Feldmann | |||||||
31 December 1951 | Max Weber | |||||||
9 December 1954 | Thomas Holenstein | |||||||
31 December 1954 | Hans Streuli | Paul Chaudet | Giuseppe Lepori | |||||
11 December 1958 | Friedrich Traugott Wahlen | |||||||
1960s | 31 December 1959 [8] | Willy Spühler | Hans-Peter Tschudi | Ludwig von Moos | Jean Bourgknecht | |||
30 June 1961 | Hans Schaffner | |||||||
30 September 1962 | Roger Bonvin | |||||||
31 December 1965 | Rudolf Gnägi | |||||||
31 December 1966 | Nello Celio | |||||||
1970s | 31 December 1969 | Ernst Brugger | ||||||
31 January 1970 | Pierre Graber | |||||||
31 December 1971 | Kurt Furgler | |||||||
1 December 1973 | Willi Ritschard | |||||||
31 December 1973 | Georges-André Chevallaz | Hans Hürlimann | ||||||
31 January 1978 | Pierre Aubert | Fritz Honegger | ||||||
1980s | 31 December 1979 | Leon Schlumpf | ||||||
31 December 1982 | Rudolf Friedrich | Alphons Egli | ||||||
7 December 1983 | Otto Stich | |||||||
31 December 1983 | Jean-Pascal Delamuraz | |||||||
20 October 1984 | Elisabeth Kopp | |||||||
31 December 1986 | Arnold Koller | Flavio Cotti | ||||||
31 December 1987 | Adolf Ogi | René Felber | ||||||
12 January 1989 | Kaspar Villiger | |||||||
1990s | 31 December 1989 | |||||||
31 March 1993 [6] | Ruth Dreifuss | |||||||
31 October 1995 | Moritz Leuenberger | |||||||
30 March 1998 | Pascal Couchepin | |||||||
30 April 1999 | Ruth Metzler [5] | Joseph Deiss | ||||||
2000s | ||||||||
31 December 2000 | Samuel Schmid | |||||||
31 December 2002 | Micheline Calmy-Rey | |||||||
31 December 2003[9] | Christoph Blocher [5] | Hans-Rudolf Merz | ||||||
31 July 2006 | Doris Leuthard | |||||||
31 December 2007 | Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf | |||||||
27 October 2009 |
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