Swiss regional elections favour conservative groups

In canton Geneva, the right-wing Liberal-Radical party remained the biggest group. © Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

Ahead of national elections this October, results from regional ballots in three of the 26 Swiss cantons on Sunday showed largely right-wing gains.

The ballots in Geneva, Lucerne, and Ticino marked the last political barometer before October’s national elections, which take place every four years.

+ Read more: are the Swiss losing interest in cantonal votes?

In southwestern canton Geneva, a right-wing majority in parliament was strengthened, with the People’s Party – Switzerland’s biggest – notably making ground.

In the canton’s seven-member government, currently dominated by the left, unclear results mean a run-off election will be held on April 30.

The People’s Party were also the biggest winners in the central canton of Lucerne, at the expense of the Green Party and the Centre Party.

In southern canton Ticino, meanwhile, the division of government seats remained the same (a right-wing majority), with the counting of votes for the regional parliament to take place on Monday.

Political windsocks

Political analyst Michael Hermann told Swiss public television SRF that ahead of October’s elections “things are going in a certain direction, and it looks rather rightwards”.

He said this could not only indicate a breaking of the “green wave” which saw the ecologist party make big gains four years ago, but that it could also mean “further movement in the political landscape before elections in autumn”.

Elections in the country’s biggest canton Zurich in February showed a similar picture, as did a recent survey by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company): an ebbing of Green Party support, but otherwise relative stability.

Hermann added that the recent Credit Suisse collapse, which has angered many within the Swiss population, did not seem to have any clear impact on Sunday’s results.