{{Distinguish|FDP.The Liberals}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{More citations needed|date=March 2010}} {{Infobox political party | colorcode = {{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}} | name = Liberal Party of Switzerland | native_name = {{langx|de|Liberale Partei der Schweiz}}<br/>{{langx|fr|Parti libéral suisse}}<br/>{{langx|it|Partito Liberale Svizzero}}<br/>{{langx|rm|Partida liberala svizra}} | logo = LPS.Logo.jpg | foundation = {{Start date and age|1913|10|8|df=y}} | dissolution = {{End date and age|2009|1|1|df=y}} | merged = FDP.The Liberals | headquarters = Spitalgasse 32, Case postale 7107<br/>3001 Bern | ideology = Liberalism (Switzerland)<br/>Pro-Europeanism | position = Centre-right | international = Liberal International | european = European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party | colours = {{Color box|{{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}|border=darkgray}} Blue | country = Switzerland }}
The '''Liberal Party of Switzerland''' ({{langx|de|Liberale Partei der Schweiz}}) or '''Swiss Liberal Party''' ({{langx|fr|link=no|Parti libéral suisse}}; {{langx|it|Partito Liberale Svizzero}}; {{langx|rm|Partida liberala svizra}}) was a political party in Switzerland with economically liberal policies. It was known as a party of the upper class. On 1 January 2009 it merged with the larger Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) to form FDP.The Liberals.
It was strongest in the Protestant cantons in Romandy, particularly in Geneva, Vaud and Neuchâtel. In contrast, the ideologically similar FDP was successful nationwide. The Liberal Party was a member of Liberal International.
==History== Founded in 1913, the Liberal Party initially had sections in Zürich, Schaffhausen, Fribourg, Grisons, and Bern, in addition to Romandy.<ref name=HDS>{{HDS|17386|Liberal Party (LP)|author=Jean-Jacques Bouquet|date=23.12.2010}}</ref> However, most of its sections were dissolved during the First World War, and by 1919 the party was confined to four cantons (Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Basel-City).<ref name=HDS/> In the 1960s, the Liberal Party tried to expand its influence beyond the four cantons, renaming itself the "Liberal-Democratic Union" from 1961 to 1977 in order to attract members from other regions.<ref name=HDS/> Although, since 1976, a Valais section had occupied a small place in the cantonal government, the party performed poorly in Basel-Country, Fribourg, Bern, Zurich.<ref name=HDS/> For many years it was the largest party not represented in the Federal Council.<ref name=HDS/> Gustave Ador, in office from 1917 to 1919, was the Liberal Party's only federal councilor.<ref name=HDS/>
The party formed a parliamentary group with the Evangelical People's Party from 1971 to 1979.<ref name=HDS/> After cooperating with moderate elements of the Swiss People's Party since 2000, the Liberal Party had a joint slate with the Free Democratic Party in the 2003 federal election.<ref name=HDS/> The party was the junior partner of the faction, with only 2.2% of the vote compared with the FDP's 17.3%. However, in their strongholds of the cantons of Romandy and the canton of Basel-City, they were particularly successful. Their best performance was in Geneva, where they received 16.8% of the vote. It won four seats (out of 200) in the National Council, but was represented in neither the Council of States nor in the Federal Council, the government's cabinet.
After the election, the Liberals and FDP founded a common caucus in the Federal Assembly. In June 2005, they strengthened their cooperation by founding the Radical and Liberal Union.<ref>[http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/swissinfo.html?siteSect=881&sid=5899597 New alliance counters left-right polarisation<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201619/http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/swissinfo.html?siteSect=881&sid=5899597 |date=30 September 2007 }}, swissinfo.org</ref> They finally merged on 1 January 2009 with the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland to form the "FDP.The Liberals".
==Positions==
The Liberal Party was committed to federalism and anti-statism, emphasizing individual responsibility.<ref name=HDS/> While it was in favor of support for agriculture, the party believed that regional planning should not interfere with municipal autonomy or private property.<ref name=HDS/> Its supporters were mainly drawn from the agricultural sector (especially winegrowers), industrial entrepreneurs, and the intelligentsia.<ref name=HDS/> The party's leaders often came from the ''Zofingen'' student society and were close to employers' organisations.<ref name=HDS/> Historically, it also had a strong Protestant influence.<ref name=HDS/>
The Liberal Party often adopted different positions from other upper-class political parties: it did not support the creation of old-age and survivors insurance, and was the only party to oppose the establishment of the Swiss National Day in 1993.<ref name=HDS/> While it campaigned against Switzerland's accession to the United Nations in a 1986 referendum, the party was pro-European, supporting a federal resolution on the European Economic Area in a 1992 referendum and the opening of negotiations for European Community (and later European Union) membership.<ref name=HDS/>
==Electoral performance==
From 1919 to 1987, the number of Federal Assembly seats held by the Liberal Party varied between five and ten in the National Council and between one and three in the Council of States.<ref name=HDS/> The party then experienced a period of favorable conditions before suffering a series of setbacks.<ref name=HDS/> Its representation at the Federal Assembly fell from thirteen to four seats between 1991 and 2003.<ref name=HDS/>
===National Council===
{| class=wikitable |- ! Election year ! % of overall vote ! # of seats won ! +/- |- ! '''1919''' | 3,8 | {{Composition bar|9|189|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | ''new'' |- ! '''1922''' | 4,0 | {{Composition bar|10|198|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{increase}} 1 |- ! '''1925''' | 3,0 | {{Composition bar|7|198|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{decrease}} 3 |- ! '''1928''' | 3,0 | {{Composition bar|6|198|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{decrease}} 1 |- ! '''1931''' | 2,8 | {{Composition bar|6|187|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{steady}} |- ! '''1935''' | 3,3 | {{Composition bar|6|187|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{steady}} |- ! '''1939''' | 1,7 | {{Composition bar|6|187|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{steady}} |- ! '''1943''' | 3,2 | {{Composition bar|8|194|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{increase}} 2 |- ! '''1947''' | 3,2 | {{Composition bar|7|194|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{decrease}} 1 |- ! '''1951''' | 2,6 | {{Composition bar|5|196|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{decrease}} 2 |- ! '''1955''' | 2,2 | {{Composition bar|5|196|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{steady}} |- ! '''1959''' | 2,3 | {{Composition bar|5|196|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{steady}} |- ! '''1963''' | 2,2 | {{Composition bar|6|200|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{increase}} 1 |- ! '''1967''' | 2,3 | {{Composition bar|6|200|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{steady}} |- ! '''1971''' | 2,2 | {{Composition bar|6|200|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{steady}} |- ! '''1975''' | 2,4 | {{Composition bar|6|200|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{steady}} |- ! '''1979''' | 2,8 | {{Composition bar|8|200|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{increase}} 2 |- ! '''1983''' | 2,8 | {{Composition bar|8|200|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{steady}} |- ! '''1987''' | 2,7 | {{Composition bar|9|200|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{increase}} 1 |- ! '''1991''' | 3,0 | {{Composition bar|10|200|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{increase}} 1 |- ! '''1995''' | 2,7 | {{Composition bar|7|200|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{decrease}} 3 |- ! '''1999''' | 2,3 | {{Composition bar|6|200|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{decrease}} 1 |- ! '''2003''' | 2,2 | {{Composition bar|4|200|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{decrease}} 2 |- ! '''2007''' | 1,9 | {{Composition bar|4|200|hex={{party color|Liberal Party of Switzerland}}}} | {{steady}} |- |align=left colspan=4|Source: Federal Statistical Office<ref name=HDS/> |}
==Presidents== * 1981–1985 Lukas Burckhardt, Basel * 1985–1989 Gilbert Coutau, Geneva * 1989–1993 Claude Bonnard, Vaud * 1993–1997 François Jeanneret, Vaud * 1997–2002 Jacques-Simon Eggly, Geneva * 2002–2008 Claude Ruey, Vaud * 2008–2009 Pierre Weiss, Geneva
==See also== *Liberalism and radicalism in Switzerland
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Swiss political parties}} {{interlib}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Liberal Party of Switzerland Category:Pro-European political parties in Switzerland Category:Classical liberal parties Category:Conservative liberal parties Category:Defunct liberal political parties Category:Political parties established in 1913 Category:1913 establishments in Switzerland Category:Political parties disestablished in 2009 Category:2009 establishments in Switzerland