Federal Chancellery Andrea Arcidiacono becomes new Federal Council spokesperson

Andrea Arcidiacono will be the new Vice-Chancellor and Speaker of the Federal Council. The Federal Council elected him on Friday. Arcidiacono succeeds André Simonazzi, who died in May at the age of 55 on a hike.

The 58-year-old Andrea Arcidiacono from Ticino will take up his post on October 1, as announced by the Federal Chancellery on Friday. As Vice-Chancellor, Arcidiacono is the spokesperson for the Federal Council. He was already media spokesperson for Federal Councillors Ruth Dreifuss and Pascal Couchepin.

He has also performed various communications functions, including as media spokesperson for the Federal Administrative Court and at the Federal Office of Public Health in 2017 and 2018.

From 2011 to 2016, he managed the "Gotthard 2016", "Italy/Expo Milano 2015" and "Verso Expo Milano 2015" programs at the Presence Switzerland image agency of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). Until the end of September, he is Director of the communications agency Arcidiacono Consulting Partners GmbH. He lives in Bern.