Swiss politicians turn party breakaways into political opportunities

Vaud cantonal government member Valérie Dittli has left the Centre party over differences with its leadership, but such departures remain rare in Switzerland, SRF reports. Political geographer Michael Hermann said leaving a party carries major risks because a party base is important for electoral success. Several prominent cases, however, show that party breakaways can also reshape political careers and even the party system.

Pierre Maudet

Geneva cantonal government member Pierre Maudet was expelled from the FDP in 2020 over a controversy involving a luxury trip to Abu Dhabi that had been given to him. After a further low point, including a damning report on his management of the office and staff, he was pressured to resign.

Maudet nevertheless announced that he would run to succeed himself. Despite being convicted of accepting an advantage and expelled from the FDP, he was re-elected to the Geneva government.

Hermann said Maudet was an exceptional case in which leaving a party became an opportunity. He was so popular that he was elected comfortably with his own political movement, the political geographer said.

Daniel Jositsch

Tensions between Council of States member Daniel Jositsch and the Social Democratic Party repeatedly surfaced as he diverged from the party line. He described the party’s all-female ticket for the 2022 Federal Council election as discriminatory.

In May, SP delegates decided that they no longer wanted to run with Jositsch. He accused the party of moving to the left without its social-liberal wing and left the SP. He remains unaffiliated with any party.

Mario Fehr

Mario Fehr also left his party in 2021, saying the cantonal SP had become increasingly ideological and was moving to the left. He disagreed with the party on issues including asylum law, social policy and security.

Fehr stood for re-election to Zurich’s cantonal government without a party in 2023 and won again with the best result of all candidates.

Like Maudet, Fehr has successfully made his non-affiliation part of his political profile, Hermann said. Because they are no longer accountable to a party, Maudet and Fehr have greater room for manoeuvre, he said. Jositsch and, in a certain sense, Dittli are now trying to follow that example.

Isabel Garcia

Isabel Garcia won a seat in Zurich’s cantonal parliament for the Green Liberal Party in 2023. Shortly afterwards, she told her party that she was switching to the FDP.

The Zurich cantonal parliament confirmed her election across party lines. Complaints challenging the validity of the election were rejected by the courts, most recently by the Federal Supreme Court in May 2026.

Hermann said switches to another party were somewhat more common than outright departures, but remained exceptional. Career prospects in a new party were often poor, he said, adding that most politicians preferred to stay in a party even after becoming alienated from it.

Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf

The 2007 election of Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf instead of incumbent Swiss People’s Party Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher was likely the most far-reaching party breakaway.

After Widmer-Schlumpf accepted election to the Federal Council, the Swiss People’s Party expelled her and the entire Grisons branch from the national party. The move led to the creation of the Conservative Democratic Party.

Other Swiss People’s Party politicians followed Widmer-Schlumpf into the new party, including Hans Grunder and Martin Landolt, who both later became party presidents. In 2020, the Conservative Democratic Party merged with the Christian Democratic People’s Party to form the Centre party.