Swiss federal election, 2011

Swiss federal election, 2011

2007 ← 23 October 2011 → 2015

All 200 seats in the National Council (101 seats needed for a majority) All 46 seats in the Council of States (24 seats needed for a majority)   First party Second party Third party   Leader Toni Brunner Christian Levrat Fulvio Pelli Party Swiss People's Social Democrats FDP.The Liberals Leader since 1 March 2008 1 March 2008 1 January 2009 Leader's seat St. Gallen Fribourg Ticino Last election 62+7, 28.9% 43+9, 19.5% 31+12, 15.8% Seats before 58 + 7 42 + 9 35 + 12 Seats won 54 + 5 46 + 11 31 + 11 Seat change 10 5 1 Popular vote 641,106 450,693 364,704 Percentage 26.6% 18.7% 15.1% Swing 2.3pp 0.9pp 2.5pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Christophe Darbellay Ueli Leuenberger Martin Bäumle Party Christian Democrats Greens Green Liberals Leader since 2 September 2006 26 April 2008 20 July 2007 Leader's seat Valais Geneva Zurich Last election 31+15, 14.5% 20+2, 9.6% 3+1, 1.4% Seats before 31 + 15 20 + 2 3 + 1 Seats won 28 + 13 15 + 2 12 + 2 Seat change 5 5 10 Popular vote 296,350 203,447 130,041 Percentage 12.3% 8.4% 5.4% Swing 2.2pp 1.2pp 4.0pp   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Hans Grunder Heiner Studer Giuliano Bignasca Party Conservative Democrats Evangelical People's Lega Leader since 1 November 2008 1 June 2008 17 January 1991 Leader's seat Bern None Ticino Last election New 2+0, 2.4% 1+0, 0.6% Seats before 5 + 0 2 + 0 1 + 0 Seats won 9 + 1 2 + 0 2 + 0 Seat change New 1 Popular vote 130,878 48,259 18,956 Percentage 5.4% 2.0% 0.8% Swing New 0.4pp 0.2pp

Map of Swiss cantons shaded by the party that won the most votes. The Swiss People's Party dominated German-speaking Switzerland, while the Social Democrats were the largest in the French-speaking west.

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 23 October 2011. All of the Federal Assembly were to be elected: all 200 seats in the National Council and all 46 seats in the Council of States.

Voter turnout was 49.1%, compared to 48.9% in 2007.

At the last election, in 2007, the Swiss People's Party (SVP) won the highest share of the vote ever recorded for a single party in Switzerland, with 29% of the vote. Soon after, a moderate faction split from the SVP, forming the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP).

In the 2011 election, the two neophyte parties BDP and Green Liberal Party (GLP) were successful, each receiving 5.4% of the popular vote. Both the GLP and the BDP have gained the required five seats to form their own parliamentary groups, suggesting a split of the centrist CVP/EVP/glp group.

All other major parties lost votes, the Swiss People's Party (SVP) for the first time since the 1987 elections. With 26.6% of the popular vote, the SVP is still the strongest party by a comfortable margin, but the 2011 elections marked the end of its rapid growth during the period of 1995–2007.

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