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Almost all parties lost in the Zurich elections four years ago. Greens and Green Liberals increased. What about the February 12, 2023 elections?
On February 12, Zurich’s voters will elect a new government and a new parliament. The Zurich cantonal elections are traditionally considered an important benchmark for the national elections. 4 years ago, the green parties changed the Zurich political landscape significantly. What are the parties betting on this year? And how could Parliament change? We answer the most important questions.
1. Who wants to be in the Zurich Cantonal Council?
A total of 1,687 people are applying for one of the 180 seats in the cantonal council. This is the long-term average. Just once, in 2003, almost 2,000 people wanted to get a seat on the cantonal council. Prominent names are few. Filmmaker Samir and whistleblower Rudolf Elmer have been put forward several times as candidates for the alternative Lise AL. Former city councilor Richard Wolff is also available as an AL list filler. The best-known celebrity is probably Hans-Ulrich Bigler, Managing Director of the Swiss Trade Association.
2. What about the proportion of women?
Today, almost 57 percent of men and a good 42 percent of women are politicians in the Zurich cantonal council. On the 13 new electoral lists, 43 percent of the candidates are women. That is only slightly more than in the cantonal elections in 2019. The new cantonal council should therefore not be significantly more female. The Greens have the most women with 54 percent. Least the SVP with almost 29 percent.
3. Does the green wave repeat itself?
The situation was unusual four years ago: almost all parties lost, above all the bourgeois alliance of SVP, FDP and CVP (today: Die Mitte). The greens are completely different. Carried by the climate protests, they gained almost five percentage points. The Green Liberals even more so. A trend that continued in the national elections.
And today? Political scientist Sarah Bütikofer says that climate protection is still a big issue. In times of war and crises, however, these are also security or energy. “As a result, more traditional voters are mobilized.” And these, in turn, tended to vote for center and right-wing parties.
4. Who wins, who loses?
GLP benefits from the fact that it combines environmental protection and economy. The FDP, in turn, specifically addresses its voters with issues such as security, energy supply and prosperity. The party with the most votes in the canton, the SVP, also draws hope. It has recently lost significantly, but its members believe that the tide has turned and their main issues of security or nutrition are booming.
For its part, the SP would like to take countermeasures with its core concern of wage security and, after the slight losses in 2019, want to increase again. But it won’t be easy: polls expect the GLP, FDP, SVP and the center to gain seats. SP and Greens should have trouble, AL and EPP remain stable.