| Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland | |
|---|---|
| German name | Bürgerlich-Demokratische Partei Schweiz (BDP) |
| French name | Parti bourgeois démocratique Suisse (PBD) |
| Italian name | Partito borghese democratico Svizzera (PBD) |
| Romansh name | Partida burgais democratica Svizra (PBD) |
| President | Hans Grunder |
| Members of the Federal Council | Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (elected as SVP member) |
| Founded | 1 November 2008 |
| Headquarters | Postfach 119 CH-3000 Bern 6 |
| Membership (2011) | 6,500[1] |
| Ideology | Conservatism, Economic liberalism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| International affiliation | Not affiliated |
| European affiliation | Not affiliated |
| Official colours | Yellow, Black |
| National Council |
9 / 200
|
| Council of States |
1 / 46
|
| Cantonal legislatures |
75 / 2,559
|
| Website | |
| www.bdp.info | |
| Politics of Switzerland Political parties Elections Swiss Federal Council Federal Chancellor Federal Assembly Council of States (members) National Council (members) Voting |
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The Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (German: Bürgerlich-Demokratische Partei Schweiz, BDP; French: Parti Bourgeois Démocratique Suisse, Italian: Partito Borghese Democratico Svizzero, Romansh: Partida Burgais Democratica Svizra, PBD) is a centre-right conservative political party in Switzerland. The BDP has one member of the Federal Council, five of the National Council, and one of the Council of States.
It was founded as a moderate splinter group from the national conservative Swiss People's Party (SVP), and was founded as a political party on the federal level on 1 November 2008.[2] It is led by Hans Grunder, and has one Federal Councillor, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, whose election in defiance of the SVP incumbent Christoph Blocher led to the creation of the party.
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On 2 April 2008 the national SVP leadership called upon Widmer-Schlumpf to resign from the Federal Council at once and to leave the party. When Widmer-Schlumpf declined to do so, the national SVP demanded that its Graubünden cantonal section expel her. Since Swiss parties are legally federations of cantonal parties, the SVP could not expel her directly. The Graubünden section stood by Widener-Schlumpf, and was expelled from the national SVP on June 1.
On 16 June 2008, the delegates' convention of the SVP's former Graubünden branch renamed itself BPS Graubünden (BPS stands for Bürgerliche Partei Schweiz) and to form the first cantonal section of the BDP.[3] A second cantonal section was founded in Bern on 21 June 2008 under the name BDP;[3][4] the change from BPS to BDP was due to a name conflict with the extant minor party Bürgerpartei Schweiz (Citizen's Party of Switzerland), which has the same acronym BPS. As a result, the BPS Graubünden also changed its name to BDP Graubünden.[5][6] Soon afterward, the SVP's Bern section, to which then-Federal Councillor Samuel Schmid belonged, defected to the new party as well.
Eleven other cantonal branches have been founded, predominantly in German-speaking Switzerland: Aargau, Basel-Landschaft, Fribourg, Glarus, Lucerne, Schwyz, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Valais, and Zürich.
BDP has 5 out of the 200 seats in the National Council.
Seventeen members of the Grand Council of Bern defected to the BDP from the SVP. In the 2010 election, the number of BDP councillors increased to 25, making the BDP the third-largest party in Bern, behind the SVP and Social Democratic Party
Having been founded by the mass defection of the local SVP, the Conservative Democrats are also the third-largest delegation in the Grand Council of Graubünden, with 30 seats, behind the Christian Democratic People's Party and FDP.The Liberals. The BDP is also the third-largest party in the Cantonal Council of neighbouring Glarus, with ten of the legislature's sixty seats.
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