These are the turbo tweeters in the Federal Palace

No social medium is as important to politicians as Twitter (well, because of the older electorate, many are still on Facebook and because you want to be young and hip on Tiktok). But on Twitter, they all are. But not everyone uses the channel in the same way: Blick presents the Federal Palace’s most notable Twitterers.

Funnier, funnier, Meret Schneider (30)! Hardly a day goes by that the Green National Council is not entertaining on Twitter. Once she gets going, she fires off her tweets almost every hour. She writes about politics, but also shares everyday observations.

your sense of humour? Always dry, a little spicy, often self-deprecating, never mean. Puns are very popular with her. With this, Schneider not only conquers the hearts of farmers, but also of professional comedians such as Viktor Giacobbo (70). And fills the gap between city and countryside all by itself. If she challenges someone, then with a lot of love, this tweet about her SVP colleague and butcher Mike Egger (30) proves.

Not even the Federal Council is safe from their humor:

It is as certain as the amen in the church: if somewhere in the world a young man with a migration background commits something, Andi Glarner (60) seizes the opportunity to warn about the “foreign infiltration” in Switzerland. The riots on New Year’s Eve in Berlin are of course a godsend.

But the National Council of the SVP of Aargau does not even need such undoubtedly criminal behavior. It is enough to receive social assistance to reap Glarner’s furore.

Or be a climate activist, be trans, or just be left-green. Here, too, he likes to use foreign examples, which he Swissises, just like the migrant riots in Berlin.

However, Glarner has had competition for a few years now – and from the same canton and the same party: alderman Martina Bircher (38) also tweets about migration every day – and often just as provocatively.

Center chairman Gerhard Pfister (60) has calmed down. Only a few years ago, often late at night or on weekends, he shared on Twitter with a sharp pen: against the political competition, against the Federal Council, against the “crime scene”, against the SRG. To almost everyone.

The Zug National Council is still on Twitter every day, but now mainly as a retweeter. Many of the posts he shares come from his own party or its branches. Or the former English football star Gary Lineker (62). Because many people don’t know that Pfister is a football fan. So, from GC, stop…

The suspicion arises that Pfister also uses the retweets to spread his own opinion – but prefers not to write it himself (because he knows the media echo it can evoke). Do you want an example? Pfister retweeted this tweet from lawyer Emran Erken:

If Pfister itself strikes the keys today, it is primarily to appeal to the humanitarian conscience of the Bundesrat – for example, with regard to the protests in Iran.

And its pointy tip hasn’t completely disappeared either, as the preview shows. About football, of course.

Mitte parliamentary party chairman Philipp Matthias Bregy (44) shows in an exemplary way how humor and politics can be reconciled – or in his case under the Christmas sweater. In doing so, he honors the self-proclaimed family celebration: on Christmas Eve, he posts fresh and unabashed photos of his family in colorful Christmas sweaters, proving to the whole world that traditional family life is important to him.

But he always knows how to elicit something humorous from the boring everyday politics. For example, when he thanks his party secretary for the ‘farewell gift’ after the winter session: lots and lots of files.

Or when Wallis marvels at the foggy parliament building.

Eric Nussbaumer (62) is busy. The National Council of the SP in Basel has sent or retweeted no less than 12,708 tweets in ten years (two new ones added during the writing of this text alone). It feels like 12,700 of them are related to Switzerland’s relationship with the EU.

The president of the Swiss European Movement (EES) does not turn his heart into a den of murderers: he is extremely disappointed in the Federal Council and its hesitant attitude. Nussbaumer wants rapid rapprochement with the EU – in any case!

And when Blick writes a critical headline, he immediately gets his fat off: “Oh, Blick…”

Nussbaumer’s sympathies are clearly localized. Evil tongues even expect an appointment as an honorary EU ambassador in the near future.

In parliament, Nussbaumer only faces competition from his own canton. However, the middle national councilor of the Basel region, Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter (58), does not immediately want to send a new application for membership to Brussels. It mainly has economic interests in mind.

Full employment, GDP, legal brakes: Andri Silberschmidt’s (28) Twitter account is a bit dry – you won’t find humor here. This is probably due to his favorite subjects. Neither the pension fund’s pensions nor the state of health care are laughable.

At the beginning of December he was a bit more approachable: for once he didn’t post about topics in parliament, but about his passing the truck test.

Balthasar Glättli (50), national councilor and chairman of the Greens, is considered a philosopher among politicians. Some call him a “Schnurri”, others – because of his sometimes missionary nature – “Jesus”. Glättli is rather reserved on Twitter. He regularly shares “Balthasar’s Green Links”, an “online newspaper” composed of automatically collected links from tweeting Greens, some of which he has commented on.

As befits his role as party chairman, he also regularly points to the successes of his fellow party members.

Last but not least, Glättli likes to prove on Twitter that he is good at English. Time and time again he retweets English news and even translates important tweets into German for his followers:

When asked why her political successes go unnoticed, Regine Sauter (56), National Councilor of the Zurich FDP, once said: She wanted to convince through performance, not through slapstick. This is exactly how her appearance on Twitter works.

Her profile on the short message service shows an employee highlighting her achievements. Because she likes to post announcements, photos of performing at party events or voting advice with large posters in hand.

That this may seem a bit old-fashioned in the shrill world of social media: free! Now she wants to be in the Council of States. She is running for the vacant seat of fellow party member Ruedi Noser (61). She is looking for supporters for this. Five people liked the tweet. There is still room for improvement. After all: according to information on Sauter’s website, 458 people already support their candidacy for the Council of States.

There is also room for improvement with FDP national councilor Marcel Dobler (42). His Twitter account is mainly used to promote his advances. It often deals with digitization topics – no wonder, since the entrepreneur is an expert in online commerce and also vice president of Digital Switzerland.

This makes Dobler not very exciting on Twitter. Fortunately, there is still Instagram: the former top athlete shows his wild side there – cycling in Arosa, historic mortar shooting, camel riding during desert holidays. Or pose in swimwear – in the spirit of political transparency.