2010 Executive Council Elections
The 2010 election on March 28 was the first without pre-printed block lists. Given this and the rather surprising left-wing win in 2006, it was widely questioned whether the Social Democrats and the Greens could hold their majority.
Urs Gasche, who had switched to the newly-founded Conservative Democratic Party, did not run for re-election. His party defended their seat with Beatrice Simon. The SVP sought to regain two seats with successfully re-elected Christoph Neuhaus and first-time candidate Albert Rösti, who scored eighth and was therefore not elected.
For the FDP, Hans-Jürg Käser successfully ran for re-election, while Sylvain Astier, who contested the Jura seat, lost to Philippe Perrenoud.
On the Left side, Barbara Egger-Jenzer, Andreas Rickenbacher, Philippe Perrenoud (all Social Democrats) and Bernhard Pulver (Greens) were successfully re-elected, retaining the left-wing's control over the executive. Except for Philippe Perrenoud, who defended the Jura seat, they scored the best results.
Several candidates of minor parties, including Jurassian separatist Maxime Zuber (Parti Socialiste Autonome) and Marc Jost (EVP) were unsuccessful.
Read more about this topic: Executive Council Of Bern
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