Municipal elections Red-green defends majority in Biel/Bienne city government
The city government of Biel/Bienne remains in red-green hands. Anna Tanner (SP) replaces her party colleague Erich Fehr, who did not stand again. The four existing municipal councillors from the PSR, Greens, PRR and SVP were re-elected.
The best result was achieved by the Green Party's Lena Frank with 5663 votes, closely followed by Glenda Gonzalez Bassi (PSR) with 5649 votes. Anna Tanner - known on the cantonal stage as a member of the Grand Council - received 5510 votes.
Natasha Pittet from the Parti Radical Romand (PRR) with 4892 votes and Beat Feurer (SVP) with 4504 votes also remain members of the city government. Voter turnout was 36.2 percent, as the city announced on Sunday.
Run-off election for mayor
Who will take over from Erich Fehr as mayor will not be decided until November 24. No one achieved an absolute majority in the first round of voting. What is certain is that it will be a French-speaking woman.
Gonzalez Bassi, the left-wing candidate, received 5348 votes in the first round. She missed the absolute majority by around one hundred votes. Natasha Pittet, who is supported by the conservative camp, received 4921 votes.
Three lists faced each other in the proportional election. The red-green list won three of the five seats with a voter share of 51%. The conservative camp, which won just under 42% of the vote, retained its two seats. The Green Liberals came away empty-handed with just over 7%.
Stalemate in parliament
The left-wing parties lost their narrow majority in the city council elections. Half of the 60 parliamentary seats now go to the red-green and half to the center-right.
In the left-wing camp, the SP made gains and is now the strongest party in the city council. The PSR is also among the winners. However, the Greens and the Juso suffered losses. In the centre-right camp, the SVP lost one seat, but the new citizens' movement Zukunft Biel gained four seats straight away and thus achieved parliamentary strength.
