Tännler secures fifth term as Switzerland’s longest-serving cantonal minister

Heinz Tännler has been re-elected to Zug’s cantonal government for a fifth time, keeping his place as Switzerland’s longest-serving cantonal executive member, SRF reports.

The 66-year-old SVP politician has served in the seven-member government since 2007. He was elected in 2006, first as a construction director and, from 2016, as finance director.

Tännler has described the finance director’s role as “a great job”, saying: “It is a pleasant task to be finance director of a canton with a stable financial situation.” Zug has 11 municipalities, around 135,000 residents and more than three billion francs in equity.

Before joining the government, Tännler served in the cantonal parliament from 1995 to 2003. He was a member of the FDP until 2002, then switched to the SVP. In 2006, he was working as chief legal officer of world football governing body FIFA.

Tännler’s 19 years in government are still well short of the tenure of Johannes Stössel, who served in Zurich’s cantonal government from 1875 to 1917. His 42 years in office may be a record, according to the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.