The anti-immigration People’s Party won Swiss parliamentary elections with a record 30 per cent of the vote, final results showed yesterday.
Fears over immigration swung voters behind the rightwing nationalist party, ensuring that Berne will take a hard line with the EU in negotiations over the freedom of movement across Swiss borders.
The People’s Party (SVP) performed better than pollsters had predicted, wining 29.4 per cent of the vote, up from 26.6 per cent in the 2011 election. The party gained 11 seats, taking 65 in the lower house of parliament, the highest for any party since the chamber’s membership rose to 200 in 1963.
The leftwing Social Democrats finished in second place with 18.9 per cent and 43 seats, three fewer than before. The pro-business Liberals won three seats to come third with 33 seats.
“The vote was clear,” said Toni Brunner, the leader of the SVP. “The people are worried about mass migration to Europe. They voted for the line in our slogan: ‘Stay Free — Vote SVP’.”
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The result for the SVP means that there will be little room for compromise when Berne negotiates with Brussels on how to adapt a Swiss commitment to immigration quotas to fit with the EU’s free movement rules. In a referendum in February last year, Switzerland, which is not an EU member but is part of the Schengen passport-free zone, voted to impose limits on new arrivals. The country must reconcile the vote with the EU’s rules by 2017.
Marine le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front, welcomed the victory, tweeting: “Everywhere in Europe, the people are saying ‘no’ to the flood of immigration”.