The cantonal executive bodies of Switzerland are the executive branches of government in each of the 26 Swiss cantons. These bodies are typically composed of 5 or 7 members and operate as collegial authorities.
The names of the executive bodies vary by language region: they are generally known as ' (Executive Council) in German-speaking Switzerland, ' (State Council) in French-speaking Switzerland, and Consiglio di Stato (Council of State) in Italian-speaking Switzerland.
Each canton also has its own legislative body. For comparison, the Swiss Federal Council serves as the executive branch of the federal government of Switzerland.
General structure
Presidents of the executives
The above mentioned collegial bodies are formally chaired by a president. However those presidents are primus inter pares, that is a first among equals in the council; other than presiding over meetings and the ability to cast tie-breaking votes, the president only holds ceremonial powers.
In the list below, unless otherwise noted, the official name of the office of president of the respective cantonal executive is Regierungsratspräsident (Government council president).
Elections
The cantonal governments are directly elected every four years. In some cantons (e.g. Basel-Stadt), the voters can cast a presidential vote for a candidate they are already voting for as member of the government. The elected member who has also received the most votes for president takes that office for the entirety of their term on the council, i.e. 4 years. In other cantons the electorate only elects the council members, and the presidency rotates according to seniority among members (e.g. Zürich and also in the federal council).
The date of the elections is not the same as the date of the start of the tenure. For example, the elections in Aargau were held in 2020, but the tenure of the new Executive started on 1 January 2021.
List of cantonal executives
Parties
Note: due to the multiple official languages of Switzerland, parties may have more than one abbreviation
- BDP/PBD: Conservative Democratic Party (belonging to The Centre)
- CSP/PCS: Christian Social Party
- CSP OW: Christian Social Party of Obwalden
- Centre: The Centre
- CSPO: Christian Social People's Party of Upper Valais (belonging to The Centre)
- CVP/PDC/PPD/PCD : Christian Democratic People's Party (belonging to The Centre)
- EVP: Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland
- FDP/PLR: FDP.The Liberals
- GLP/PVL: Green Liberal Party
- Green: Green Party
- Ind: Independent
- LDP: Liberal Democratic Party of Basel-Stadt (belonging to the FDP)
- Lega: Ticino League
- LJS: Liberté et Justice sociale (Freedom and Social Justice)
- MCG: Geneva Citizens’ Movement
- SP/PS: Social Democratic Party
- SVP/UDC/PPS: Swiss People's Party
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+List as of 2 July 2022
! colspan="3" rowspan="2" |Canton
! rowspan="2" |Executive<br />Official name(s)
! rowspan="2" |Members
! rowspan="2" |Member list<br>(president first and in bold)
! colspan="2" |Elections
|-
! Prev
! Next
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Aargau
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | AG
| style="border-left: none;" | Aargau
| Executive Council<br />
| 5
| (SP)
(FDP)
Martina Bircher (SVP)
(CVP)
(SVP)
|2024
|2028
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Appenzell Ausserrhoden
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | AR
| style="border-left: none;" | Appenzell Ausserrhoden
| Executive Council<br />
| 5
| (SPV)
(FDP)
(FDP)
(SP)
Alfred Stricker (Ind)
|2023
|2027
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Appenzell Innerrhoden
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | AI
| style="border-left: none;" | Appenzell Innerrhoden
| State Commission<br />
| 7
| (Ind)
(Centre)
(SVP)
Hans Dörig (Ind)
Angela Koller (Centre)
Stefan Müller (Ind)
Jakob Signer (Ind)
|
|
|-
| style="border-right: none;" |25px|Basel-Country
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | BL
| style="border-left: none;" | Basel-Landschaft
|Executive Council<br />
| 5
| (Green)
(FDP)
(EVP)
(Centre)
(SP)
| 2023
| 2027
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Basel-City
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | BS
| style="border-left: none;" | Basel-Stadt
| Executive Council<br />
| 7
| Conradin Cramer (LDP)
Mustafa Atici (SP)
(Centre)
(LDP)
(GLP)
(SP)
(SP)
|2024
|2028
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Berne
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | BE
| style="border-left: none;" | Bern
| Executive Council<br /><br />
| 7
| (SVP)
Evi Allemann (SP)
(SP)
(Centre)
Christine Häsler (Green)
(FDP)
(SVP)
|2022
|2026
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Fribourg
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | FR
| style="border-left: none;" | Fribourg
| Council of State<br /><br />
| 7
| (SP)
(Green)
(FDP)
(FDP)
(Centre)
(SVP)
(Centre)
| 2022
| 2026
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Geneva
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | GE
| style="border-left: none;" | Geneva
| Council of State<br />
| 7
| (SP)
(Centre)
(FDP)
(FDP)
Antonio Hodgers (Green)
(SP)
Pierre Maudet (LJS)
| 2023
| 2028
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Glarus
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | GL
| style="border-left: none;" | Glarus
| Executive Council<br />
| 7
| (Centre)
(SP)
(SVP)
Christian Marti (FDP)
Thomas Tschudi (SVP)
|2022
|2026
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Grisons
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | GR
| style="border-left: none;" | Grisons
| Government<br /><br /><br />
| 5
| (Centre)
(FDP)
(Centre)
Jon Domenic Parolini (Centre)
(SP)
|2023
|2026
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Jura
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | JU
| style="border-left: none;" | Jura
| Government<br />
| 5
| (Centre)
(SP)
Rosalie Beuret Siess (SP)
(CSP)
(Centre)
|2021
|2025
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Lucerne
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | LU
| style="border-left: none;" | Lucerne
| Executive Council<br />
| 5
| (Centre)
Ylfete Fanaj (SP)
(SVP)
(FDP)
(Centre)
|2023
|2027
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Neuchâtel
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | NE
| style="border-left: none;" | Neuchâtel
| Council of State<br />
| 5
| (FDP)
(FDP)
(SP)
(SP)
Céline Vara (Green)
|2025
|2029
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Nidwalden
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | NW
| style="border-left: none;" | Nidwalden
| Executive Council<br />
| 7
| (SVP)
(SVP)
(FDP)
(Centre)
(Centre)
(Centre)
(GLP)
|2022
|2026
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Obwalden
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | OW
| style="border-left: none;" | Obwalden
| Executive Council<br />
| 5
| (CSP)
(CVP)
(Independent)
(CVP)
(SVP)
|2022
|2026
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Schaffhausen
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | SH
| style="border-left: none;" | Schaffhausen
| Executive Council<br />
| 5
| (FDP)
(SVP)
(FDP)
(SP)
(SVP)
|2024
|2028
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Schwyz
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | SZ
| style="border-left: none;" | Schwyz
| Executive Council<br />
| 7
| (Centre)
(SVP)
Damian Meier (FDP)
(Centre)
(SVP)
Xaver Schuler (SVP)
(FDP)
|2019
|2023
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Solothurn
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | SO
| style="border-left: none;" | Solothurn
| Executive Council<br />
| 5
| Remo Ankli (FDP)
Peter Hodel (FDP)
Sandra Kolly-Altermatt (Centre)
Susanne Schaffner (SP)
Brigit Wyss (Green)
|2017
|2021
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|St. Gallen
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | SG
| style="border-left: none;" | St. Gallen
| Government<br />
| 7
| Fredy Fässler (SP)
Laura Bucher (SP)
Bruno Damann (Centre)
Susanne Hartmann (Centre)
Stefan Kölliker (SVP)
Marc Mächler (FDP)
Beat Tinner (FDP)
|2020
|2024
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Thurgau
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | TG
| style="border-left: none;" | Thurgau
| Executive Council<br />
| 5
| Cornelia Komposch-Breuer (SP)
Dominik Diezi (Centre)
Monika Knill-Kradolfer (SVP)
Urs Martin (SVP)
Walter Schönholzer (FDP)
|
|
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Ticino
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | TI
| style="border-left: none;" | Ticino
| Council of State<br />
| 5
| Claudio Zali (Lega)
Manuele Bertoli (SP)
Raffaele De Rosa (Centre)
Norman Gobbi (Lega)
Christian Vitta (FDP)
|
|
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Uri
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | UR
| style="border-left: none;" | Uri
| Executive Council<br />
| 7
| Urs Janett (FDP)
Christian Arnold (SVP)
Urban Camenzind (Centre)
Daniel Furrer (Centre)
Beat Jörg (Centre)
Dimitri Moretti (SP)
Roger Nager (FDP)
|2020
|2024
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Valais
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | VS
| style="border-left: none;" | Valais
| Council of State<br /><br />
| 5
| Roberto Schmidt (CSPO)
Christophe Darbellay (Centre)
Frédéric Favre (FDP)
Mathias Reynard (SP)
Franz Ruppen (SVP)
|
|
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Vaud
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | VD
| style="border-left: none;" | Vaud
| Council of State<br />
| 7
| Christelle Luisier (FDP)
Frédéric Borloz (FDP)
Valérie Dittli (Centre)
Nuria Gorrite (SP)
Isabelle Moret (FDP)
Rebecca Ruiz (SP)
Vassilis Venizelos (Green)
|
|
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Zug
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | ZG
| style="border-left: none;" | Zug
| Executive Council<br />
| 7
| Martin Pfister (Centre)
Andreas Hostettler (FDP)
Stephan Schleiss (SVP)
Heinz Tännler (SVP)
Silvia Thalmann-Gut (Centre)
Beat Villiger (Centre)
Florian Weber (FDP)
|2019
|2023
|-
| style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Zurich
| style="border-left: none; border-right: none;" | ZH
| style="border-left: none;" | Zurich
| Executive Council<br />
| 7
| Jacqueline Fehr (SP)
Mario Fehr (independent)
Martin Neukom (Green)
Natalie Rickli (SVP)
Silvia Steiner (Centre)
Ernst Stocker (SVP)
Carmen Walker Späh (FDP)
|2019
|2023
|-
! style="border-right: none;" | 25px|Confederation
! style="text-align: left; border-left: none; border-right: none;" | CH
! style="text-align: left; border-left: none;" | Confederation
! style="text-align: left;" | Federal Council<br /><br /><br /><br />
! style="text-align: left;" | 7
! style="text-align: left;" | Alain Berset (SP)
Viola Amherd (Centre)
Guy Parmelin (SVP)
Ignazio Cassis (FDP)
Karin Keller-Sutter (FDP)
Albert Rösti (SVP)
Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (SP)
! style="text-align: left;" | 2019
!2023
|}
See also
- Cantonal legislatures of Switzerland
- Small Council
- Municipal executive in Switzerland