The federal chancellor is the head of the Federal Chancellery of Switzerland, the oldest Swiss federal institution, established at the initiative of Napoleon in 1803. The officeholder acts as the general staff of the seven-member Federal Council. The chancellor is not a member of the government and the office is not at all comparable to that of the chancellor of Germany or the chancellor of Austria, or to the United Kingdom's chancellor of the exchequer.

The current chancellor, Viktor Rossi, a member of the Green Liberal Party from Bern, was elected on 13 December 2023. He began his term on 1 January 2024.

Election

The federal chancellor is elected for a four-year term by both chambers of the Federal Assembly, assembled together, at the same time (and by the same process) as it elects the Federal Council. The election is conducted by secret ballot using an exhaustive ballot in which each member of the Assembly can vote for any eligible person in the first two rounds, but only remaining candidates in subsequent rounds. If no candidate receives an absolute majority, the candidate(s) with the fewest votes is eliminated.

Role

The position is a political appointment and has only a technocratic role.

The chancellor attends meetings of the Federal Council but does not have a vote. The chancellor also prepares the Federal Council's reports to the Federal Assembly on its policy and activities. Still, the chancellor's position is often referred to as that of an "eighth federal councillor". The chancellery is also responsible for the publication of all federal laws.

List of federal chancellors

{| class="wikitable"

! #

! Tenure

! Chancellor

! Portrait

! Birth–death

! colspan=2| Party

! Canton

|-

! 1

| 1803–1830

| Jean-Marc Mousson

| 50px|Jean Marc Samuel Isaac Mousson

| 1776–1861

| style="background-color: " |

| Liberal Party

| Vaud

|-

! 2

| 1831–1847

| Josef Franz Karl Amrhyn

| 50px|Josef Franz Karl Amrhyn

| 1800–1849

| style="background-color: " |

| Liberal Party

| Lucerne

|-

! 3

| 1848–1881

| Johann Ulrich Schiess

| 50px|Johann Ulrich Schiess

| 1813–1883

| style="background-color: " |

| Liberal Party

| Appenzell Ausserrhoden

|-

! 4

| 1882–1909

| Gottlieb Ringier

| 50px|Gottlieb Ringier

| 1837–1929

| style="background-color: " |

| Liberal Party

| Aargau

|-

! 5

| 1910–1918

| Hans Schatzmann

| 50px|Hans Schatzmann

| 1848–1923

| style="background-color: " |

| Free Democratic Party

| Aargau

|-

! 6

| 1919–1925

| Adolf von Steiger

| 50px|Adolf von Steiger

| 1859–1925

| style="background-color: " |

| Free Democratic Party

| Bern

|-

! 7

| 1925–1934

| Robert Käslin

| 50px|Robert Käslin

| 1871–1934

| style="background-color: " |

| Free Democratic Party

| Nidwalden

|-

! 8

| 1934–1943

| George Bovet

| 50px|George Bovet

| 1874–1946

| style="background-color: " |

| Free Democratic Party

| Neuchâtel

|-

! 9

| 1944–1951

| Oskar Leimgruber

| 50px|Oskar Leimgruber

| 1886–1976

| style="background-color: " |

| Christian Democratic People's Party

| Fribourg

|-

! 10

| 1951–1967

| Charles Oser

| 50px|Charles Oser

| 1902–1994

| style="background-color: " |

| Free Democratic Party

| Basel-Stadt

|-

! 11

| 1968–1981

| Karl Huber

| 50px|Karl Huber

| 1915–2002

| style="background-color: " |

| Christian Democratic People's Party

| St. Gallen

|-

! 12

| 1981–1991

| Walter Buser

| 50px|Walter Buser

| 1926–2019

| style="background-color: " |

| Social Democratic Party

| Basel-Landschaft

|-

! 13

| 1991–1999

| François Couchepin

| 50px|François Couchepin

| 1935–2023

| style="background-color: " |

| Free Democratic Party

| Valais

|-

! 14

| 2000–2007

| Annemarie Huber-Hotz

| 50px|Annemarie Huber-Hotz

| 1948–2019

| style="background-color: " |

| Free Democratic Party

| Zug

|-

! 15

| 2008–2015

| Corina Casanova

| 50px|Corina Casanova

| 1956–

| style="background-color: " |

| Christian Democratic People's Party

| Grisons

|-

! rowspan=2 | 16

| rowspan=2 | 2016–2023

| rowspan=2 | Walter Thurnherr

| rowspan=2 | 50px|Walter Thurnherr

| rowspan=2 | 1963–

| style="background-color: " |

| Christian Democratic People's Party

| rowspan=2 | Aargau

|-

| style="background-color: " |

| The Centre

|-

! 17

| 2024–present

| Viktor Rossi

| 50px|Viktor Rossi

| 1968–

| style="background-color: " |

| Green Liberal Party

| Bern

|-

|}

See also

  • Politics of Switzerland
  • List of presidents of the Swiss Confederation
  • List of members of the Swiss Federal Council
  • Lists of office-holders

Sources

  • Hans-Urs Willi. "The Chancellor: a few historical highlights on the development of their person and the office from ancient times to the Middle Ages and the Zenden Republic of Valais". In Klaus, Michel (editor): Quelle chance pour nos institutions? Mélanges offerts à Monsieur François Couchepin, chancelier de la Confédération à l'occasion de son 60e anniversaire / Festschrift für Bundeskanzler François Couchepin zum 60. Geburtstag. Schlieren 1995. Translated by Paul Suffrin and Elsbeth Hagan.

References

Notes

  • Official website
  • A Walk through the History of the Federal Chancellery, in German, French and Italian, on the web site of the Federal Chancellery