The Grand Council (German: Grosser Rat, French: Grand conseil) is the parliament of the Swiss canton of Bern.
It consists of 160 members (as of 2006) elected by proportional representation for a four-year term of office. The French-speaking part of the canton, the Bernese Jura (districts of Courtelary, La Neuveville and Moutier) has 12 seats guaranteed, and 3 seats are guaranteed for the French-speaking minority of the bilingual district of Biel/Bienne.
The last election was held on 27 March 2010, and resulted in a victory for the Swiss People's Party (SVP). However, whilst they maintained their plurality position, the main gainers were the Conservative Democratic Party, who gained eight seats on their pre-election position, having split from the SVP since the 2006 election. The Social Democratic Party and FDP.The Liberals both lost considerable ground.
| Party | Ideology | Vote % | Vote % ± | Seats | Seats ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swiss People's Party | National conservatism | 26.62 | –0.80 | 44 | –3 | |
| Social Democratic Party | Social democracy | 18.86 | –5.17 | 35 | –7 | |
| Conservative Democratic Party | Conservatism | 16.03 | N/A | 25 | N/A | |
| FDP.The Liberals | Classical liberalism | 10.34 | –6.04 | 17 | –9 | |
| Green Party | Green politics | 10.10 | –2.79 | 16 | –3 | |
| Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland | Christian democracy | 5.90 | –1.45 | 10 | –3 | |
| Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland | Christian right | 4.40 | –0.38 | 5 | –1 | |
| Green Liberal Party | Green liberalism | 4.07 | N/A | 4 | N/A | |
| Autonomous Socialist Party of South Jura | Separatism – Social democracy | 1.04 | –0.25 | 3 | ±0 | |
| Christian Democratic People's Party | Christian democracy | 1.16 | –0.60 | 1 | ±0 | |
| Swiss Democrats | Nationalism | 0.41 | –1.77 | 0 | –1 | |
| Entente PDC of Jura South / Liberal Party of Jura | Separatism – Christian democracy – Classical liberalism | 0.24 | –0.10 | 0 | –1 | |
| Others | 0.83 | –0.74 | 0 | –1 | ||
| Total | 160 | – | ||||
| Source: Canton of Berne | ||||||
All links are in German and French, unless otherwise noted.