Grand Council of Basel-Stadt

The Grand Council of Basel-Stadt (German: Grosser Rat) is the legislature of the canton of Basel-Stadt, in Switzerland. Basel-Stadt has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with members elected every four years. Members of the canton's executive, the Executive Council, are elected on the same day.

Grand Council of Basel-Stadt

German: Grosser Rat des Kantons Basel-Stadt
2020 election period
Type
Type
Structure
Seats100
Political groups
  •   SP 30
  •   Greens (GB) 18
  •   LDP 14
  •   SVP 11
  •   FDP 7
  •   CVP 7
  •   GLP 8
  •   EVP 3
  •   AB 1
  •   VA 1
Meeting place
Rathaus Basel
Website
www.grosserrat.bs.ch/de/

At the 2008 election, held on 14 September 2008, the Social Democratic Party fared badly, but retained its dominant position, with more than twice as many seats as the next-largest party, the Swiss People's Party (SVP). The legislature was reduced from 130 seats to 100, making all existing parties to lose ground. However, the SVP and Green Party both did relatively well, as did the new centrist Green Liberal Party, which won five seats.

At the 2012 election, held on 28 October 2012, the Volksaktion, a populist anti-immigration party, was able to win two seats, while the Evangelical People's Party lost all but one of their seats.[1]

At the 2016 election, held on 23 October 2016, the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals won the election, while the Christian Democratic People's Party, the Green Liberals and the FDP lost popular vote and seats in the Grand Council. The Volksaktion lost their two seats they won four years before.[2]

Election

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The council is re-elected every four years. Like other legislatures in Switzerland, elections use party list proportional representation. There are five constituencies. The communities of Riehen and Bettingen each form a constituency, whilst the city of Basel is divided into three constituencies: the area north of the river Rhine is Kleinbasel, whilst the remaining Grossbasel is arbitrarily split into Grossbasel East and Grossbasel West.

Constituency Seats
Grossbasel East 27
Grossbasel West 34
Kleinbasel 27
Riehen 11
Bettingen 1

Election overview 1988–2020

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Election result

Year SP FDP LDP CVP DSP POB SD1 EVP2 LdU GPS FraP SVP GB3 glp
419884 18.3 13.9 11.0 10.6 8.2 7.8 7.8 6.2 5.7 5.4
1992 20.7 15.1 12.5 10.3 7.8 5.1 5.5 5.8 2.5 3.5 4.0 3.8
1996 27.0 12.4 10.7 9.5 8.2 6.1 5.8 5.7 3.5 9.4
2000 26.0 12.6 11.3 9.9 6.0 4.6 5.6 GB 010.05 9.6
2004 31.2 11.7 8.6 8.1 4.8 2.9 5.5 12.1 10.9
2008 28.2 10.1 9.0 9.3 3.2 2.2 5.2 13.9 13.0 5.1
2012 30.7 11.1 9.6 7.3 4.2 15.0 11.8 5.0
2016 32.5 9.2 13.8 5.9 1.4 14.3 13.4 4.3
2020 30.0 8.4 14.1 6.3 3.6 11.0 16.6 7.8

Distribution of seats

Year Total SP FDP LDP CVP POB SD DSP LdU EVP GPS PdA FraP SVP GB glp others
1988 130 27 19 15 15 12 10 9 8 7 5 2 1
1992 130 32 21 17 15 6 8 10 3 6 3 1 5 3
1996 130 39 17 14 13 8 10 6 7 3 13
2000 130 39 18 16 14 5 6 6 GB 14 12
2004 130 46 17 12 11 6 6 15 16 1
2008 100 32 11 9 8 3 4 14 13 5 1
2012 100 33 12 10 8 1 15 13 5 35
2016 100 34 10 14 7 1 15 14 4 1
2020 100 30 7 14 7 3 11 18 8 2

Footnotes

1 SD: until 2004: SD, 2008: SD/EDU
2 EVP: until 2004: VEW, 2008: EVP
3 GB: 1996: GB, 2000: BastA (Greens and FraP), 2004 and 2008: GB
4 1988: additionally: PvA: 2.0%
5 VA: 2 seats, AB (Aktives Bettingen): 1 seat

References

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  1. ^ "Wahlergebnisse". Archived from the original on 25 August 2014.
  2. ^ "Staatskanzlei Basel-Stadt – Wahlen 2016". Archived from the original on 30 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
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