People’s Party loses ground in Senate elections

The rightwing Swiss People’s Party has lost several seats in the latest round of Senate run-off elections, with two of its heavyweights failing to win over voters.

This content was published on November 27, 2011 - 15:58

2 minutes

swissinfo.ch and agencies

Voters went to the polls in five cantons on Sunday to decide all but one of the remaining seats in the Senate.

In a surprise outcome, People’s Party chairman and head of the St Gallen chapter Toni Brunner failed to take the St Gallen seat, won by Social Democrat Paul Rechsteiner. Karin Keller-Sutter of the Radicals was elected for the canton in the first round of voting in October.

People’s Party strongman Christoph Blocher also failed in his bid for a Zurich seat. Radical Felix Gutzwiller and Verena Diener of the Green Liberals won the canton’s two seats.

In Aargau, two women were elected to represent the canton in the Senate for the first time: Christine Egerszegi of the Radical Party and Social Democrat Pascale Bruderer. Meanwhile People’s Party representative Ulrich Giezendanner lost his seat of 16 years.

In Uri, the Green Liberal Markus Stadler saw off a challenge by People’s Party candidate Gusti Planzer. Christian Democrat Isidor Baumann had been elected in the first round of voting.

However the People’s Party took both seats in canton Schwyz. Bruno Frick of the Christian Democrats was not re-elected to the Senate for the first time in 20 years, with the seat going to Peter Föhn. Alex Kuprecht was elected in the first round.

The Christian Democrats are now the biggest party in the Senate. A final vote for canton Solothurn takes place next Sunday.

How should Switzerland relieve congestion on its motorways?

On November 24, Swiss voters will decide on a government proposal to expand the motorway network. What do you think about this?

Join the discussion

Oct 28, 2024

62 Likes

78 Comments

View the discussion

How can we avoid AI being monopolised by powerful countries and companies?

AI has the potential to solve many of the world's problems. But the wealthiest countries and tech firms may seek to hoard these benefits.

Join the discussion

Nov 7, 2024

1 Likes

4 Comments

View the discussion

Did you emigrate for financial reasons?

Did life in Switzerland become unaffordable for you? Is that why you emigrated?

Join the discussion

Nov 7, 2024

61 Comments

View the discussion

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

Policy questions surround election winners

This content was published on Oct 30, 2011 The two relatively new parties at the centre of the political spectrum hold key cards in the December 14 cabinet election. Winning 18 seats more than in 2007 is no mean feat for the two groups, and comes mainly at the expense of all the five bigger parties. “Until now discontented voters had no alternative…

Major parties get a slap in the face

This content was published on Oct 24, 2011 Political scientist Georg Lutz tells swissinfo.ch that the major parties have been made to pay for pushing their own agendas in the voting campaign. The People’s Party, for example, ran a huge poster campaign against the “mass immigration of foreigners”. On the other hand, the Liberal Greens, a business-friendly green party increased its representation by…

New centre parties rein in right and left

This content was published on Oct 23, 2011 The rightwing Swiss People’s Party as well as the centre-right and the centre-left parties appear to have lost between 1.4 per cent and 3.9 of their vote in the House of Representatives compared with the 2007 elections. A nationwide projection, commissioned by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, shows the Conservative Democrats gaining 5.2 per cent and the…

Election campaign posters

This content was published on Oct 12, 2011 Political parties and their candidates show different degrees of creativity to attract public attention when it comes to the parliamentary elections. (pictures: Keystone)

People’s Party loses ground in Senate elections

Most Discussed

More

How should Switzerland relieve congestion on its motorways?

More

How can we avoid AI being monopolised by powerful countries and companies?