Successor to Maja Riniker Pierre-André Page elected as the new President of the National Council
Fribourg SVP politician Pierre-André Page has been elected as the new President of the National Council. Master farmer Page received 173 out of 181 valid votes on Monday and will lead the National Council for one year as successor to Maja Riniker (FDP/AG).
01.12.2025, 15:10
01.12.2025, 15:20
SDA
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- Pierre-André Page has become the new President of the National Council and thus the highest-ranking Swiss politician after decades of trying.
- The 60-year-old previously failed several times in national and cantonal elections before his breakthrough in 2015.
- Page is regarded as a well-connected compromise politician with strong roots in the canton of Fribourg - and wants his office to be seen as motivation for others.
Pierre-André Page has headed the National Council since Monday - a position that the 60-year-old Fribourg SVP politician has never taken for granted despite his long political career. Page's path to the federal parliament was anything but straight. After being elected to the municipal council of his home town of Châtonnaye in 1991 and later becoming a member of the cantonal parliament, two decades of disappointment followed: three unsuccessful attempts for the National Council and two failed candidacies for the cantonal government.
The 65-year-old is the first President of the National Council from the canton of Fribourg since the centrist Dominique de Buman led the upper chamber in 2017/18. Page knows all about presidencies: He was mayor of his home town of Châtonnaye FR from 2002 to 2006 and presided over the Fribourg cantonal parliament in 2009.
The married father of three achieved the best result of all candidates for the National Council in the canton of Fribourg in the last elections in 2023 and has been a member of the upper chamber since the end of 2015. The 173 votes he received on Monday are a good result.
The President of the National Council presides over the United Federal Assembly, i.e. when the National Council and Council of States meet together. He is therefore often referred to as the "highest Swiss".
Page's political profile is strongly influenced by his regional roots. He knows the clubs, music societies, football pitches and regulars' tables in his district - and many people know him. His reputation: someone who listens, seeks compromises and is well connected across party lines. He even speaks a little Swiss German because he did his apprenticeship in the canton of Solothurn.
