After a steady increase since 1971, the proportion of women elected to the House of Representatives fell in Sunday’s Swiss federal elections. Of the 200 new parliamentarians elected, 38.5% are women, down from 42% in 2019.
The Federal Statistical Office said 77 women were elected to the House of Representatives, compared to 84 in 2019.
This year’s decline follows a steady upward trend over the past 52 years. In 1971, the share of female parliamentarians did not surpass 5%. This figure gradually increased, rising to 17.5% in 1991, 26% in 2003 until the recent peak in 2019.
The new parliament is also younger than the previous one: the average age is 49.5 years, compared to 51.7 in 2019. The youngest new parliamentarian is 26-year-old Katja Riem of the right-wing People’s Party.
The oldest is 76-year-old Charles Poncet, a Geneva lawyer, who is returning to Bern as a People’s Party parliamentarian 30 years after he last worked there.
Around 60% of the newly elected officials live in urban areas, compared to 69.5% four years ago.
There are fewer newcomers this year. The number of re-elected parliamentarians stands at 152, compared to 119 in 2019. The new legislature will open on December 4.
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