Beat Jans: from apprentice farmer to Swiss cabinet minister

© Keystone / Peter Schneider

The Social Democrat from Basel was elected on Wednesday to succeed Alain Berset in the Federal Council. A portrait of a seasoned politician who began his career as an apprentice farmer. 

The Federal Assembly preferred to rely on experience rather than renewal. After three rounds of voting, it chose Beat Jans, 59,  former president of the Basel City cantonal government, to succeed Interior Minister Alain Berset, on the Federal Council. He trounced his rival Jon Pult, a 39-year-old parliamentarian from canton Graubünden. 

The new Federal Councillor received 134 votes out of 245 valid ballots, while Daniel Jositsch from Zurich, who was not among the candidates put forward by the Social Democratic Party, received 68 votes and Jon Pult 43.

The average age of the Federal Council will thus be one of the highest in history. On January 1, 2024, it will rise from 58 years and three months to 60 years and seven months. The gender balance has been maintained. The language balance has been restored: after a year of over-representation of Romance language-speakers in the government, there will now be four German-speaking members.

The choice of the farmers’ lobby

“I never thought I would one day be a candidate for the Federal Council”, Beat Jans said with emotion after being launched in the government race by his party. Today, this son of a working-class family has ascended to the highest office. 

“I promise to do my best, with all my energy and convictions,” said the Basel-born politician in his election speech. He also promised to make the well-being of the population, whether “poor or rich, weak or strong, Swiss or immigrant”, his priority.

The new Federal Councillor is proof that the social mobility still exists in Switzerland. Born in Basel in 1964, he grew up with a mother who was a shop assistant and a father who was a locksmith. He began his working life with an apprenticeship as a farmer, before training as an agricultural technician and then studying environmental sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich.

His background was certainly an asset when it came to convincing the powerful farmers’ lobby in the parliament. However, he had to prove himself at the hearings, as his environmentalist stance had offended some farmers when he was a member of the House of Representatives. As a member of the economy and environment committee, he had been particularly active on environmental and energy issues.

Solid political experience

Beat Jans will also be able to draw on solid political experience to govern the country. He only joined the Social democrats at the age of 34, but quickly climbed up the ranks. 

After becoming president of the Basel-City section, he was elected to the canton’s executive. He then joined the House of Representatives in 2010, where he served for ten years before being elected to the Basel government in 2020. He was also the vice-president of the Social Democrats from 2015 for five years.

Jans describes himself as “a bridge-builder”. A characteristic that has certainly appealed to his political opponents in parliament, who have seen in him a man of compromise. He is a sports lover –he played on the parliamentary football team and took part in the parliamentary ski race –  and a family man married with two teenage daughters aged 16 and 18. 

An advocate of electronic voting

A Europhile and committed environmentalist, Beat Jans is often described as being to the left of his Social Democratic Party. According to his Smartvote profile, however, he falls more in the centre of his party. In parliament, he seldom deviated from the party line: according to SmartvoteExternal link, he voted for the party position in more than 99% of cases.

The new minister is sensitive to the cause of the Swiss abroad. “My brother lives in New York, and my wife is of American origin,” he told SWI swissinfo.ch during his campaign. He therefore believes that the Swiss Abroad should be able to remain connected to the government and is in favour of electronic voting.

Jans also said that one of his priorities would be to prioritise relations with the European Union. “I represent the city of Basel, which lies on the border between three countries. I have learned that it is easier to solve problems with our neighbours than without them,” he said. 

With the election of Beat Jans, the half-canton of Basel-Stadt is celebrating. It has just regained a place in the government, after not having had one for 50 years.