The party leaders under control: this means the elections for Chiesa and Co.

Polenta for everyone! Marco Chiesa (49) can celebrate. Despite the federal government’s embarrassing financial blunder, his SVP is the election winner. But how much of this is Chiesa’s credit? The SVP has won seats in western Switzerland. This is likely at least partly due to the Latin-speaking president, who is considered a brilliant orator in French – in stark contrast to his knowledge of German. That is why he often lets parliamentary group leader Thomas Aeschi (44) go first in German-speaking Switzerland.

The elections are entering the second round

2. Ballot papers for the Council of States

Things are getting exciting in these cantons now

Much more than Chiesa’s campaign talent, the fact that the migration issue was once again at the highest level spoke for the SVP. Even the SRG’s own base largely assesses Chiesa’s influence as ‘neutral’, as the SRG’s post-election survey shows. It is the second worst value for a party chairman; only election loser Balthasar Glättli (51) is even lower.

The SP is on the rise. With an increase from 1.5 percent to 18.3 percent, the party is one of the election winners. The co-presidium with Mattea Meyer (35) and Cédric Wermuth (37) has sharpened the profile of the SP and consistently focused on classic left-wing issues: higher premium cuts, better pensions, more childcare places, more equality. The duo as personification of the redistributive state.

The two have proven that a co-presidency can work. Even if they don’t always agree with each other, they form one voice for the outside world.

With their election victory, they not only relegated the FDP to the ranks, which they wanted to replace as the second strongest party. On the contrary, they have nipped in the bud any debate about a seat in the SP Federal Council in favor of the Greens or GLP.

One negative remains: even if the SP wins two seats in the National Council, it will not make up for the losses in the left-green camp.

How heavy the burden must have weighed on FDP president Thierry Burkart (48) on election Sunday: a historic election defeat. Behind the center in parliament and – much worse – just overtaken in terms of voter shares. Then the relief: the Freisinn was only overtaken by the center due to a data breach. Now the situation has been rectified.

But that does not disguise the fact that the party is in crisis. Burkart achieved the worst FDP result of all time. And especially on the 175th anniversary of the federal state founded by liberals. The second seat of the Federal Council is also under discussion.

Burkart got off to such a good start: after taking over the party leadership in 2021, he rushed from victory to victory in the cantons. He positioned the FDP more to the right again. Then came the CS debacle – and with it the kink. Given the purchasing power problem (occupied by the SP) and the migration problem (occupied by the SVP), Burkart was unable to gain a share in the election campaign. Even if he is weakened, he is unavailable as party leader.

Gerhard Pfister (61) removed the annoying ‘C’ from his centrist party, pulled it out of the Christian corner and, as a reward, overtook the FDP in terms of seat numbers.

But bragging about it or even demanding a second seat on the Federal Council is not for Pfister. No sitting federal councilors will be voted out, he says in Blick TV’s elephant round. Just to stir up the discussion about the magic formula with subtle comments.

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Pfister tries to portray himself as a maker of major compromises and at the same time has to repeatedly attract attention with loud statements – with a bias against the SRG.

His biggest risk: Pfister wants to bring the cost-saving initiative to the people. It is unclear what solutions this should yield. After all, no party is as closely linked to healthcare as his. The proposal’s chances are uncertain and there is a risk of defeat. Did Pfister also take that into account?

Meret Schneider (31), Natalie Imboden (53), Kurt Egger (67), Valentine Python (48), Isabelle Pasquier (50). The Greens lost five seats on Sunday and five parliamentarians were dismissed without notice. And since Sunday people have been wondering: how much to blame is party chairman Balthasar Glättli? He is considered an astute analyst, but certainly not a campaigner. His public appearances are often reminiscent of a university lecture. Now the Greens are in crisis mode and the party leader also seems out of the picture.

However, losses were almost inevitable for the Greens as election winners in 2019. Nevertheless, they achieved the second-best result in history. For now, the Greens appear to be in favor of their boss. The question is: for how long? Glättli himself said in an SRF radio interview that we also had to talk about the right composition of the team.

It’s cruel: the GLP only gives up 0.2 percent of the vote, yet its fraction has almost halved. Party leader Jürg Grossen (54) not only loses six members of the National Council, but also his nerves. In a ‘Nebelspalter’ podcast he insulted SP union councilor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (59) as ‘not the brightest candle on the cake’ – for which he subsequently apologized.

The derailment actually does not suit the otherwise down-to-earth Berner. But he not only shoots against the left, but also ingratiates himself with the election winner, the SVP. The fact that he is moving to the right will probably make some party members shake their heads. The GLP is weakened. But if Grossen does it smartly, his party can often tip the balance and become a power factor.