Doris Leuthard

Who is Doris Leuthard?

Doris Leuthard is a Swiss politician and lawyer. Since 1 August 2006, she has been a member of the Swiss Federal Council. From 1 August 2006 till 31 October 2010 she was head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs. Since 1 November 2010 she is head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications. She was elected President of the Confederation for 2010.

Leuthard was a member of the Swiss National Council from 1999 to 2006 and President of the Christian Democratic People's Party.

Following the resignation of Joseph Deiss from the Swiss Federal Council, Leuthard was elected as his successor on 14 June 2006. She received 133 out of 234 valid votes, and became the 109th member of the Federal Council. Her election represented a departure from a long precedent of replacing a member of the Federal Council with someone from the same language group. While Deiss was a French speaker, Leuthard is a German speaker.

For the calendar year 2009, Leuthard was elected Vice President of the Swiss Confederation, virtually assuring her election as president for the calendar year 2010.