On 22 September 2010, when Simonetta Sommaruga joined the Federal Council, it was the first time that a majority of its members had been women, with four women and three men. It was a symbolic moment, after a long wait. The female majority remained until Micheline Calmy-Rey stood down at the end of 2011.

1984: The first woman
It had taken until 1984, and the election of Elisabeth Kopp, for a Swiss woman to become a member of the federal government. After gaining the right to vote and to stand in elections in 1971, women had to wait patiently for a further 13 years for the first female member to be elected to the Federal Councils.

Her successors
Today, there are three women members of the Federal Council: Simonetta Sommaruga (elected in 2010), Viola Amherd (since 2019) and Karin Keller-Sutter (since 2019).
Apart from the politicians already mentioned, Ruth Dreifuss (1993-2002, first female president of the Swiss Confederation in 1999), Ruth Metzler-Arnold (1999-2003), Micheline Calmy-Rey (2003-2011, president of the Swiss Confederation in 2007 and 2011), Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (2007-2015, president of the Swiss Confederation in 2012), Doris Leuthard (2006-2018, president of the Swiss Confederation in 2010 and 2017) have also held seats in the Federal Council, bringing the total of female members so far to nine.
Last modification 27.12.2018