Marcel Dettling appointed as Swiss People’s Party’s new leader

Marcel Dettling, 43, is a conservative close to the party’s grassroots, with a particularly strong record on migration issues. KEYSTONE/©KEYSTONE/PETER SCHNEIDER

Marcel Dettling, a 43-year-old farmer from canton Schwyz, was elected on Saturday as the new leader of the right-wing Swiss People's Party, Switzerland's biggest political party.

The Swiss mountain farmer is a conservative close to the party’s grassroots, with a particularly strong record on migration issues.

He has been a Swiss parliamentarian since 2015 and vice-president of the party since 2022.

Dettling entered politics at the age of 17. In 1998, he was one of the founding members of the youth People’s Party section in canton Schwyz. At the time, the party, which now dominates the Schwyz region, did not yet have a mandate in the cantonal executive.

In 2008, the farmer who originates from Oberiberg in canton Schwyz, entered the cantonal parliament. Seven years later, he was elected to the House of Representatives in Bern in the federal elections, defeating Social Democrat Andy Tschümperli.

Like Toni Brunner before him, Marcel Dettling has risen rapidly through the ranks of the People’s Party. Slightly less charismatic than his predecessor, the Schywz politician took over the party’s leadership in 2018.

For the past two years, he has been a vice president, alongside Céline Amaudruz from Geneva and Magdalena Martullo-Blocher from Zurich.

Marcel Dettling could have become party president four years ago. But after being nominated he decided to give priority to his family.

This time he was ready to take over from outgoing leader Marco Chiesa from canton Ticino. On Saturday delegates elected him as the new official leader at a party conference in Langenthal, canton Bern.

His children are now less in need of him, he told reporters. What’s more, he now knows what he has to look forward to since becoming vice-chairman.

The experience he gained last year as head of the party’s campaign for the federal elections also strengthened his confidence and assurance. It also enabled him to reinforce contacts with the presidents of the party’s cantonal sections.

By electing Marcel Dettling as its leader, the rightwing party is relaunching its nationwide campaign, one year after the departure of Toni Brunner.

Within the party, he is viewed as being part of the ultra-conservative camp and a leader in the field of migration. As well as agriculture, his parliamentary interventions typically focus on immigration policy.

As the future president, he wants to strengthen the clarity of the party’s position and orientation. On climate change he recently commented: “I would prefer it to be more humid in the future than frostier.”

In this respect, he demonstrated his ability to simplify complex issues in order to sell them to the electorate and attract the attention of the media.

Adapted from French by DeepL/sb

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