Switzerland

Data on women

empty

Basic information > About parliament

Speaker

Speaker
Martin Candinas (Male)
Year of birth
1980
See historical data for this field.

Secretary general

Secretary General
Philippe Schwab (Male)
Notes Additional information about the Secretary General, in particular regarding their term.
Appointed on 1 July 2013.

Members

Current number of members, by sex
Men The number of male parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
116
See historical data for this field.
Women The number of female parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
83
See historical data for this field.
Percentage of women Calculated by dividing the current number of women by the current number of members.
41.71% See historical data for this field.

Age

Average age of all members Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
48.60
See historical data for this field.
Total number of MPs, 45 years of age or younger
79 See historical data for this field.
Total number of MPs, 46 years of age or older
121 See historical data for this field.
Total per sex
Total of male
117 See historical data for this field.
Total of female
83 See historical data for this field.
Total per age interval
18-20
0
21-30
8 See historical data for this field.
31-40
43 See historical data for this field.
41-45
28 See historical data for this field.
46-50
25 See historical data for this field.
51-60
69 See historical data for this field.
61-70
26 See historical data for this field.
71-80
1
81-90
0 See historical data for this field.
91 and over
0
Number of members, by age
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Totals per age interval 0 8 43 28 25 69 26 1 0 0
Total <= 45: 79 Total >= 46: 121
Male 0 3 26 12 14 44 17 1 0 0 117
Female 0 5 17 16 11 25 9 0 0 0 83
Percentage of members, by age
Age as last election or renewalOverallMaleFemale
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger4%1.5%2.5%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger25.5%14.5%11%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger39.5%20.5%19%

Reserved seats and quotas

Electoral quota for women Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
Notes
Voluntary political party quotas.
Elections > Election results

Candidates

Total number of candidates Total number of people who registered as candidates for election. Does not include people who stood as candidates to become "substitute members".
4,645
Number of female candidates Number of female candidates
1,873
Percentage of women candidates The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women candidates by the total number of candidates.
40.32%
Number of candidates, by sex
Number of female candidates Number of female candidates
1873
Percentage of women candidates The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women candidates by the total number of candidates.
40.32%

Results

Members elected, by sex
Number of men elected
117
Number of women elected
83
Percentage of women elected The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women elected in the election and the number of seats at stake at the election.
41.5%
Number of women after election or renewal, by mode of designation
Women Directly Elected
83

New legislature

Total number of men after the election The total number of male parliamentarians in this parliament/chamber following the election or renewal, regardless of their modes of designation.
117
Total number of women after the election The total number of female parliamentarians in this parliament/chamber following the election or renewal, regardless of their modes of designation.
83
First Speaker of the new legislature
First Speaker of the new legislature First name of the Speaker of the new legislature following the election or renewal.
Isabelle Moret (Female)
Political party
FDP.The Liberals (FDP/PLR)
Date of election
02.12.2019
Elections > Historical data on women

Women's suffrage

Women’s right to vote
Women’s right to vote Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1971
National or local Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes Suffrage: Additional Notes on right of suffrage
Due to the cantonal and federal system of granting suffrage, the political participation of women was not fully integrated on a national level until 1990. Appenzell was the last canton to recognize women's suffrage.
Women’s right to stand for election
Women's right to stand for election Year in which women obtained the right to stand for election
1971
National or local Stand for Election: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Stand for Election : Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes Stand for Election: Additional Notes on right to stand for election
Due to the cantonal and federal system of granting suffrage, the political participation of women was not fully integrated on a national level until 1990. Appenzell was the last canton to recognize women's suffrage.
First woman in parliament
First woman in parliament Year in which first woman entered parliament
1971
Notes
First woman speaker
Year of first woman speaker Date at which, for the first time in the country's parliamentary history, a woman became Presiding Officer of Parliament or of one of its Houses.
1977

Specialized body - Women's caucus

Cross-Party Group of Women Parliamentarians
(January 1990)
Formal or informal
Informal
The caucus is open to male MPs
Yes
The caucus is cross-party
Yes
Notes
This group is a successor of the Group of Women Parliamentarians which was established in 1990.
There are rules governing the functioning of the caucus
No

Activities

Issues dealt with by the caucus
The purpose of the group is to facilitate networking among female members of the Swiss parliament, so it organizes various events for women.

In addition to the group, the Parliament also maintains a website "Political Women" to encourage women to be/become politically active, by providing materials (documents, videos etc.) on success stories, female role models, and by organizing events dedicated to the topic.
The caucus has a strategic plan or plan of action
No
The caucus has a communication plan
No

Contact information for the Committee