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
Seats160
Political groups
Government parties (132)
  •   SVP/UDC 46
  •   SP/PS 38
  •   FDP/PLR 20
  •   Greens (GPS/PES) 13
  •   BDP/PBD 13

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 - SeelandDistricts of Biel/Bienne and Seeland26
Mittelland NorthNorth Part of Bern-Mittelland22
BernCity of Bern20
Mittelland-SouthSouth Part of Bern-Mittelland20
ThunDistrict of Thun17
OberlandOberland region (contains three districts)16
EmmentalDistrict of Emmental15
Bernese JuraDistrict of Jura Bernois12
OberaargauDistrict of Oberaargau12

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.

 Summary of the 28 March 2010 Bern Grand Council election results
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 SeparatismSocial 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 SeparatismChristian democracyClassical liberalism 0.24 –0.10 0 –1
Others 0.83 –0.74 0 –1
Total 160
Source: Canton of Berne

References

All links are in German and French, unless otherwise noted.

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