The most influential politicians in Switzerland 2024
The 2023 elections have brought some changes to Switzerland’s two parliamentary chambers. But who has lost influence and who has gained it? At Burson, we used our Influence Index again this year to look at the most influential politicians in Switzerland. As a data-driven company, we analyzed over a million data points to obtain a clearly structured and empirical evaluation.
The Influence Index 2024 shows that the Center Party and its representatives remained the most politically influential group in the Federal Palace in 2024. However, the other parties are catching up. Overall, the difference between the individual groups is significantly smaller than it was in 2023. With Hannes Germann, it is an SVP Council of States member who wielded the greatest political influence this year. In terms of public influence, it is Center Party president Gerhard Pfister who wins the 2024 ranking.
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Order analysis reportTop 3 – parliamentary influence
The latest data from the Burson Influence Index 2024 shows that the winning parties in the elections have, on average, lost political influence in parliament. The Center Party remains at the top of the political influence ranking in 2024. This year, its representatives occupy 12 places in the top 30. The best-placed centrist representative is Peter Hegglin, a member of the Council of States from Zug, placed 3rd.
Although the SVP as a party is losing influence on average, individual protagonists are still at the top. Two SVP representatives occupy the top places in the ranking of political influence. The winner in 2024 is Councilor of States Hannes Germann. The 68-year-old from Schaffhausen is currently a member of three committees and three delegations and came out on top against his parliamentary group leader Thomas Aeschi, who took second place this year. Aeschi, who currently chairs the prestigious Committee for Economic Affairs and Taxation, is also seen as a vote-getter within the largest parliamentary group.
You can find the complete ranking here.
Top 3 - public influence
The left- and right-wing parties remain the leading force in terms of public influence. The SP, Greens, and SVP occupy 22 of the top 30 places, with the SP clearly forming the strongest parliamentary group with 12 representatives. The two Federal Council candidates Jon Pult (2nd place) and Daniel Jositsch (4th place) are among the frontrunners. The battle to succeed Health Minister Alain Berset gave these two councilors a lot of media attention, on which they both capitalized.
However, it was not enough for the top spot. This goes to the Center Party leader Gerhard Pfister in 2024. The National Councilor from Zug seems to have won over the public. Whether through lengthy interviews in the major daily newspapers or the social media platform X, Pfister seems to be omnipresent.
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Order analysis reportThe Burson Influence Index uses a data-driven methodology to measure who exerts the greatest influence in parliament. The rankings are part of an empirical analysis. The results do not reflect any support of parliamentarians or their positions by Burson. Influence is measured by two largely independent dimensions: the Parliamentary influence and the Public influence. Over 1 million data points are collected based on a defined set of parameters. These reflect a variety of influence indicators, which are then combined into a single score for both parliamentary and public influence, using a commonly accepted statistical method to calculate indices. Measurement period: data capture took place between December 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024.