Grand Council of Bern
The Grand Council (German: Grosser Rat, French: Grand conseil) is the parliament of the Swiss canton of Bern.
Grand Council Grosser Rat (German) Grand conseil (French) | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
President | Jürg Iseli |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 160 |
 | |
Political groups | Government parties (132)
Other parliamentary parties (28) [1] |
| Elections | |
| Party-list proportional representation Hagenbach-Bischoff system | |
Last election | 2018 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Rathaus | |
| Website | |
| https://www.gr.be.ch/ | |
It consists of 160 members (as of 2006) elected by proportional representation for a four-year term of office. The French-speaking part of the canton, the Bernese Jura (districts of Courtelary, La Neuveville and Moutier) has 12 seats guaranteed, and 3 seats are guaranteed for the French-speaking minority of the bilingual district of Biel/Bienne.
Election
The council is re-elected every four years. Like other legislatures in Switzerland, elections use party list proportional representation. There are nine constituencies, based on the districts of the Canton.
 Districts of the canton of Bern |
| Constituency | Boundaries | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| Biel-Bienne - Seeland | Districts of Biel/Bienne and Seeland | 26 |
| Mittelland North | North Part of Bern-Mittelland | 22 |
| Bern | City of Bern | 20 |
| Mittelland-South | South Part of Bern-Mittelland | 20 |
| Thun | District of Thun | 17 |
| Oberland | Oberland region (contains three districts) | 16 |
| Emmental | District of Emmental | 15 |
| Bernese Jura | District of Jura Bernois | 12 |
| Oberaargau | District of Oberaargau | 12 |
Composition
The last election was held on 27 March 2010, and resulted in a victory for the Swiss People's Party (SVP). However, whilst they maintained their plurality position, the main gainers were the Conservative Democratic Party, who gained eight seats on their pre-election position, having split from the SVP since the 2006 election. The Social Democratic Party and FDP.The Liberals both lost considerable ground.
| Party | Ideology | Vote % | Vote % ± | Seats | Seats ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swiss People's Party | National conservatism | 26.62 | –0.80 | 44 | –3 | |
| Social Democratic Party | Social democracy | 18.86 | –5.17 | 35 | –7 | |
| Conservative Democratic Party | Conservatism | 16.03 | N/A | 25 | N/A | |
| FDP.The Liberals | Classical liberalism | 10.34 | –6.04 | 17 | –9 | |
| Green Party | Green politics | 10.10 | –2.79 | 16 | –3 | |
| Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland | Christian democracy | 5.90 | –1.45 | 10 | –3 | |
| Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland | Christian right | 4.40 | –0.38 | 5 | –1 | |
| Green Liberal Party | Green liberalism | 4.07 | N/A | 4 | N/A | |
| Autonomous Socialist Party of South Jura | Separatism – Social democracy | 1.04 | –0.25 | 3 | ±0 | |
| Christian Democratic People's Party | Christian democracy | 1.16 | –0.60 | 1 | ±0 | |
| Swiss Democrats | Nationalism | 0.41 | –1.77 | 0 | –1 | |
| Entente PDC of Jura South / Liberal Party of Jura | Separatism – Christian democracy – Classical liberalism | 0.24 | –0.10 | 0 | –1 | |
| Others | 0.83 | –0.74 | 0 | –1 | ||
| Total | 160 | – | ||||
| Source: Canton of Berne | ||||||
References
- Swiss Grand Councils in the Ancien Régime in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
External links
All links are in German and French, unless otherwise noted.
- Official website of the Grand Council of Bern
- German-language Wikipedia article on the Grand Council of Bern
- Websites for the 2002 and 2006 Grand Council elections