Council
National Council factions
Faction V 67, Social Democrats 41, Centre 31, Free Democrats 27. Together those four factions have 166 of 200.
Country desk · updated 25 Oct
Switzerland
The seat map is the National Council member directory dated 4 August 2026. It lists 200 members. Faction V has 67, the Social Democratic faction has 41, the Centre faction has 31, the Free Democratic faction has 27, the Green faction has 23, and the Green Liberal faction has 11. Those six rows sum to 200. A majority of 200 is 101. No faction has 101 seats on its own. The seven Federal Council pages name the Swiss People's Party, the Social Democrats, the Free Democrats, and the Centre. Those four factions hold 166 seats together. That sum is a headcount, not a pact that binds their votes in the chamber. Vote shares are the Federal Statistical Office party-strength table for 2023, not a figure printed on the member directory.
Key takeaways
- 1
Parliament. Swiss People's Party faction holds the most seats: 67 of 200 (34%). A majority needs 101.
- 2
Headlines. The tone is steady: 8% of the last 14 days' headlines read grim, 10% upbeat. Top topic: Politics (24%).
- 3
Government. Government barometer 57/100 (Builder). 0 of 2 moves on file read as smart, 0 as harmful.
- 4
Next vote. Swiss federal vote on 29 November 2026, in 34 days.
Headline mood · 14 days
Line: mood · bars: stories
25 Oct · 4 stories · upbeat1 upbeat · 3 neutral · 0 grim
What the headlines are about
- Other 30%
- Politics 24%
- Economy 18%
- Society 10%
- Security 9%
- Climate 8%
A simple word-list estimate from the daily wire headlines. Not a judgement.
Who holds the seats · National Council
200 seats · 101 for a majority (line)
Swiss People's Party faction
67 seats · 33.5%
67 on the National Council directory of 4 August 2026. The directory of 4 August 2026 lists 67 National Council members in faction V. The Federal Statistical Office table for 2023 prints the Swiss People's Party at 27.9 percent. That percentage is the party list, not a sum of every list seated in the faction.
Map · mood compared
Switzerland
Overall mood: 8% grim, 10% upbeat · today +25
What changed today
25 Oct
- 25 Oct: 4 stories (average 7); tone more upbeat than usual.
New headlines
- LEC Underdogs Stun LPL Favorites in Worlds 2026 Swiss Opener
David “Supa” García celebrated his 26th birthday with a triple kill in the Elder fight, powering Movistar KOI to a stunning upset over Bilibili Gaming in Allen, Texas.
UnverifiedTrending on X · 23 Oct
- From Sunday, standard time returns to Switzerland
From 3 am on Sundat, standard time will once again be in force in Switzerland and most European countries. Clocks will be set back by one hour. Night owls will therefore have an extra hour to go out on the night from Saturday to Sunday. In Europe, summer time was first introduced in 1973 against the backdrop of the oil crisis. This time change was intended to provide businesses and households wit…
swissinfo · 24 Oct
- Nearly 9,600 fish saved in Jura rescue operation
Around 16 kilometres of rivers in the Jura were the subject of rescue fishing operations during this summer’s drought. Nearly 9,600 fish, including 6,500 trout, were caught and then relocated to suitable sections of the main watercourse within the same catchment area. "In several cases, these operations had to be launched very quickly following reports of animal deaths. Such operations had been c…
swissinfo · 24 Oct
1 more of today's reports are only in their original language. Read them in the German edition.
Earlier this week: 10 more headlines
- Swiss pharma giant Roche presents positive data on eye disease drug
Basel-based pharmaceutical company Roche has presented new data on vamikibart, its experimental treatment for macular oedema associated with uveitis, a condition in which inflammation causes swelling in the macula. The data show that the treatment delivers sustained improvements in vision and reduces retinal swelling over a 52-week period. The results were presented on Saturday at the annual meet…
swissinfo · 12 Oct
- Zermatt glacier slopes reopen after heatwave closure
From Wednesday, skiers will once again be able to hit the slopes on the Theodul Glacier above Zermatt, in canton Valais. The area, which normally remains open throughout the summer, was forced to close temporarily because of the heatwave and rapidly melting snow. The ski area, which extends to nearly 4,000 metres above sea level, will reopen to the public on October 14, according to Zermatt Bergb…
swissinfo · 12 Oct
- Expert report into Crans-Montana tragedy delayed
The expert report into the tragedy in Crans-Montana is taking longer than expected. It is now not expected to be published until at least the end of January. “I can confirm that the deadline has been extended because of the complexity of the work involved,” Beatrice Pilloud, Attorney General of canton Valais, told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Sunday in response to a report by the SonntagsZeitu…
swissinfo · 12 Oct
- Mental health campaigners gather in Bern for Swiss Mad Pride
Several hundred people took part in the fourth Swiss Mad Pride outside the Swiss Parliament in Bern on Saturday. The event aimed to promote the visibility, acceptance and inclusion of people living with mental health conditions. A 50-metre pink carpet was rolled out across Bundesplatz, with participants invited to walk along it “with dignity and pride”, according to the organisers. There was no p…
swissinfo · 12 Oct
- Thousands join pro-Palestinian protests in Swiss cities
Thousands of people took to the streets in some Swiss cities on Saturday to protest against the war in Gaza. Demonstrations in Zurich remained peaceful, but in Lausanne a UBS building was vandalised and police used tear gas against about 60 masked protesters. Around 2,000 people gathered in Lausanne’s Place de la Riponne at 3pm on Saturday. The demonstration then proceeded via the railway station…
swissinfo · 12 Oct
- Swiss police dogs take part in first-aid training exercise in Italy
Dogs from Swiss and other European specialist police units have been training together in Rome this week. The exercises focused on high-risk operations and, for the first time, on emergency treatment for injured animals. According to Italian police, the dogs are deployed in some of the most challenging and dangerous situations. The training was designed to prepare handlers to provide emergency me…
swissinfo · 12 Oct
- Rare Northern Lights display seen over Switzerland
Sporadic sightings of the Northern Lights were reported in the Swiss night sky on Saturday evening. Although the lights were faint, they could be seen clearly, meteorologist Daniel Gerstgrasser wrote in a post on X. The natural spectacle could be seen on several MeteoSwiss webcams. The Northern Lights are caused by heightened solar activity. Large quantities of electrically charged particles are…
swissinfo · 12 Oct
- Three Swiss cantons accused of historical complicity in slavery
Can past injustices be brought before the courts? The Swiss Office of the Attorney General must now investigate whether the historical predecessors of the cantons of Zurich, Bern and Solothurn were guilty of aiding and abetting slavery. A criminal complaint filed against cantons Zurich, Bern and Solothurn has brought the question of Switzerland’s role in the slave trade before the courts. At its…
swissinfo · 12 Oct
- House prices continue to climb in Switzerland
Housing prices in Switzerland rose significantly again in the third quarter of 2026. Both single-family homes and flats saw sharp price increases compared with the previous quarter. Prices for single-family homes rose by 2.0%, while those for flats increased by 1.7%, according to the Raiffeisen Transaction Price Index published on Monday. Compared to the same quarter last year, single-family home…
swissinfo · 13 Oct
- Swiss swimming pools and saunas warn against use of smart glasses
Regulations at municipal and local swimming pools must prohibit the wearing of glasses fitted with a camera, according to a warning issued by public swimming pools on Monday. In German-speaking Switzerland, the Swiss association of swimming instructors, the association of swimming pools and the Swiss sauna federation have responded to the growing use of eyeglasses fitted with built-in cameras. Th…
swissinfo · 13 Oct
Headlines and summaries come from the linked sources; the selection is automatic.
Go deeper
Parties, people, promises, money
200 members on the directory, and the four Federal Council factions hold 166.
The seat map is the National Council member directory dated 4 August 2026. It lists 200 members. Faction V has 67, the Social Democratic faction has 41, the Centre faction has 31, the Free Democratic faction has 27, the Green faction has 23, and the Green Liberal faction has 11. Those six rows sum to 200. A majority of 200 is 101. No faction has 101 seats on its own. The seven Federal Council pages name the Swiss People's Party, the Social Democrats, the Free Democrats, and the Centre. Those four factions hold 166 seats together. That sum is a headcount, not a pact that binds their votes in the chamber. Vote shares are the Federal Statistical Office party-strength table for 2023, not a figure printed on the member directory.
A score on this desk is an editorial average of six work topics, times ten, with the method written on the row.
The room
National Council
200 members on the directory · 101 to govern alone · four factions 166
The deal
Four factions in the Federal Council, none alone a majority
101 seats would be a majority of 200. Faction V, the Social Democrats, the Centre, and the Free Democrats have 67, 41, 31, and 27 on the August directory. That sum is 166. The Federal Council is a college of seven. These four factions do not vote as one bloc, and no single faction has 101 seats.
The mood
Election vs now
The left bar is the 2023 party strength in the Federal Statistical Office table. The right bar is faction seats on the August directory divided by 200. They are different counts.
- SVP30.4%
- SP18.8%
- Centre13.6%
- FDP13.3%
- Greens10.3%
- GLP6.1%
The first point is the 2023 total column on the Federal Statistical Office party-strength page, as that page prints it to one decimal place. The second point is the Sotomo survey whose fieldwork ran from 28 October to 11 November 2024, 4,467 respondents, as Swissinfo reported on 2 December 2024. The third point is the Sotomo survey for SRG whose fieldwork ran to 11 September 2025. Swissinfo prints the Swiss People's Party at 30.4, the Free Democrats at 13.3, the Centre at 13.6, and the Green Liberals at 6.1. SRF prints the Social Democrats at 18.8. Nau prints the Greens at 10.3. A sample is not the same question as votes cast. A faction bar uses the named party's figure and does not add the smaller lists seated with it.
The trend
From election night to now
Public pollster blend — not a forecast
The split
Seat share beside the 2023 vote
The right bar is seats divided by 200. The left bar is the party strength. The later directory and the 2023 table are different counts.
The mismatch
Seats they hold vs the poll
The seat bar is the August headcount, divided by 200. The other bar is the Sotomo reading for SRG published in October 2025. The bar is the named party's figure.
The rude gauge
Growth king or a fight with work
Who grows the pie, who picks a fight with work. Cabinet sits at 57 / 100. The number is an editorial reading, not an official index. Six topics are averaged and multiplied by ten: energy supply, hiring, keeping and investing money, building, hours in paid work, and paperwork. Ten means the public record makes that easier for work. Zero means it makes it harder. A row is not left in the middle on every topic. The band is a label for that average, not a court ruling.
Against the workBuilderGrowth king
Full causal chains live on every promise
This week
The pulse
Office
Offices
Guy Parmelin is president for 2026. Ignazio Cassis is vice president. Greta Gysin presides over the Green faction.
Politics 101
How this country actually works
What this chamber drawing is
200 members. 101 to govern alone. The four Federal Council factions have 166.
Counts are member rows in the National Council directory of 4 August 2026. The six factions sum to 200. 101 is a majority of 200. Vote shares are the Federal Statistical Office party-strength table for 2023. A faction can seat more than one list, so the percentage is the named party's share, not a combined faction share.
Who holds the offices this desk names
Parmelin, president. Cassis, vice president. Gysin, Green faction.
The presidency page names Guy Parmelin and Ignazio Cassis. The seven member pages print a party beside each name. The National Council page names Pierre-André Page. The directory names Greta Gysin as president of faction G.
Elections
What is on the calendar
National elections and the major votes on these desks, for about the next 24 months. The date comes from the election authority. A poll appears only when a named pollster published it in the last 60 days.
Swiss federal vote
Date set
29 Nov 2026
34 days
The Federal Council set the popular vote for 29 November 2026.
Date source: Bundesblatt / Federal Council
Swiss federal elections
Date set
24 Oct 2027
363 days
CH Info, the federal information portal, lists the next National Council election, and in most cantons the Council of States, for 24 October 2027.
Date source: CH Info
How foreigners are seen
Openness in Switzerland
Published surveys only. Each figure shows its source and year.
Who's welcomed
Share of adults in Switzerland with a favourable opinion of each country Pew asked about.
No data
Pew's 2025 Global Attitudes survey did not poll in Switzerland, and no other survey of views of other countries is on this desk yet.
Openness score
Three separate measures, each in its own year. We do not blend them.
Gallup, 2016
MIPEX, 2019
What expats say
InterNations Expat Insider 2025: rank out of 46 destinations, 1 is best.
- Ease of settling in39 of 46
- Culture and welcome39 of 46
- Local friendliness36 of 46
- Finding friends41 of 46
In plain words
- Expats ranked Switzerland 39 of 46 for ease of settling in (2025); its best sub-score was local friendliness at 36.
- No published survey here asks people about other countries, so who's welcomed shows no data.
Sources and method
Pew asks adults for their opinion of a country. That is a view of the country, not of its people or of any visitor. We never estimate a pair that was not asked.
InterNations ranks come from expats living in the country (46 destinations). Gallup's Migrant Acceptance Index runs from 0 to 9. MIPEX scores integration law and policy from 0 to 100.
What it means for you
What it means for you
Only figures with a source, a date, and a link. Anything not listed here is not on file.
Taxes
The federal tax administration page on current value-added-tax rates says the standard rate is 8.1 percent. Value-added tax is the tax on most goods and services. The same page says the reduced rate is 2.6 percent and the special rate for lodging is 3.8 percent, in force since 1 January 2024.
Federal Tax Administration, current value-added-tax rates, 2024-01-01 Source
Income
The 2026 tariff table for the direct federal tax on the income of natural persons says the annual tax on higher taxable incomes is a flat 11.5 percent. The direct federal tax is the Confederation’s tax on a person’s income. Cantonal taxes sit on top of it and are not this figure.
Federal Tax Administration, form 58c tariff table for 2026, 2026-01-01 Source
Benefits
The social-insurance amounts sheet valid from 1 January 2026 says the minimum old-age pension is 1,260 francs a month. That pension is the basic public retirement payment after a full contribution record. The same sheet says the maximum old-age pension is 2,520 francs a month.
Federal Social Insurance Office, amounts valid from 1 January 2026, 2026-01-01 Source
Sources, licences and image credits
Data
- Wire (public RSS feeds): X, swissinfo, SRF News.
- The left bar is the 2023 party strength in the Federal Statistical Office table. The right bar is faction seats on the August directory divided by 200. They are different counts.
- Editorial economic-competence gauge, not a court and not a Nobel. Six axes: energy, hiring, capital, building, hours in work, red tape. Scores are a judgement from public records of this term and the last — not a bribery charge, not a voting recommendation.
Survey sources
- Switzerland — Gallup Migrant Acceptance Index 2016: Gallup. Neli Esipova, John Fleming and Julie Ray, “New Index Shows Least-, Most-Accepting Countries for Migrants”, Gallup, 23 August 2017. The full-country table lists Switzerland at 7.21. The survey-methods note says the index was asked in 138 countries in 2016, so the year used here is 2016. Source. Gallup allows a contextual citation when the publication date and a link are given. The table and graphics are not reproduced.
- Switzerland — MIPEX overall score 2019: MIPEX. Migrant Integration Policy Index, Switzerland country page. The 2019 block prints “MIPEX Score (with Health): 50.” The same page says Switzerland scores 50 on the 100-point scale. Source. The overall score is cited from the country page. The report is not reproduced.
Image credits
- Swiss People's Party faction mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
- Social Democratic faction mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
- Centre faction mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
- FDP faction mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
- Green faction mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
- Green Liberal faction mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
- Flag of Switzerland — Wikimedia Commons · Public domain Source
Questions the desk actually answers
FAQ
Questions the desk actually answers
- Is the Switzerland desk live on Nation Runner?
- Yes. It draws the National Council member directory of 4 August 2026, the 2023 party-strength table, and the Federal Council members named on official pages. It is an editorial dashboard, not an official record.
- Which culture figures does the Switzerland desk show?
- Gallup’s Migrant Acceptance Index for Switzerland in 2016 (7.21 out of 9) and the Migrant Integration Policy Index score of 50, with 2019 printed beside that score. No Pew row for Switzerland is on the perceptions page, so none is added here.
- Does the money tab score Swiss political financing?
- No. Zeros mean the access scale is not filled. A zero is not a finding that a party has no donors.
How we source this
Seats: National Council directory, 4 August 2026. Votes: Federal Statistical Office party strengths, 2023. Ballot support: Sotomo, fieldwork 28 October to 11 November 2024, and Sotomo for SRG, fieldwork to 11 September 2025. Offices: the Federal Council pages, the presidency page, the National Council page, and the member directory. Culture: Gallup 2016 and the Migrant Integration Policy Index block headed 2019.