SVP becomes Fribourg's largest party with 22.2% as FDP loses five seats

A first in a French-speaking canton

The Swiss People's Party (SVP, called UDC in French) became the largest party by vote share in Fribourg's cantonal election on Sunday, 8 November, taking 22.2% of the vote. That is up from 17.3% in 2021, when the party was only fourth in the canton. It is the first time the party has come first in vote share in a French-speaking canton.

SVP 202117.3%

SVP 202622.2%

FDP 202120.1%

FDP 202616.6%

SVP 2021

17.3 %

SVP 2026

22.2 %

FDP 2021

20.1 %

FDP 2026

16.6 %

Data from the article text

The SVP gained six seats and now holds 25 in the Grand Council. The Centre keeps the largest group with 26 seats and 21.6% of the vote. The FDP, known as PLR in French, lost five seats and dropped to 18, with its vote share falling from 20.1% to 16.6%.

Le Centre26

SVP25

FDP18

Le Centre

26 seats

SVP

25 seats

FDP

18 seats

Data from the article text

Elsewhere, the Greens lost three seats, the Socialists (PS) gained two, and the Green Liberals and Centre Left each lost one. The DAS-WAS collective won two seats in its first cantonal election.

Local results and the FDP's loss

In Mouret, a commune about fifteen minutes from Fribourg where SVP national councillor Nicolas Kolly lives, the party took 26%, roughly one point more than before. Most of that gain came at the FDP's expense. Nicolas Brunisholz, the commune's mayor, told RTS that the party answers local concerns about security, purchasing power and public finances.

“I think it is a bit the basic programme of this party, values that touch everyone and are perhaps more concrete than other parties' measures.”

In Bulle, the canton's second-largest city, the SVP also rose. In the Gruyère district, which the FDP traditionally held, the party is now the strongest, with its seats in the cantonal parliament rising from three to five. Patrick Ecoffey, a forest ranger newly elected for the party, said he joined to defend the middle class and purchasing power.

Freiburghaus and the day after

Andreas Freiburghaus (FDP), mayor of Wünnewil-Flamatt, was not re-elected after five years in the Grand Council. In the same village, Verena Wiget-Spycher (SVP) won a seat in the Grand Council after joining the local council in spring. She said she was only gradually realising what the election meant.

“To be honest, I have slept better than I did last night.”

Freiburghaus blamed the FDP's result on polarisation, which he said pulls voters from the centre toward the parties at the poles. He expects this to make politics harder in the coming years. His last session starts on Tuesday, 10 November, after which he will hand in his badge.

Signals for the federal election

RTS counts 74 seats won by the SVP in cantonal parliaments renewed since early 2024. In 2026 the party also became the strongest force in the Grisons Grand Council, with 35 of 120 seats, and returned to that government through Valérie Favre Accola after 18 years. A Sotomo barometer for the SSR, published in October, showed every centre-right party losing voting intentions a year before the federal elections.

“This confirms the broad lines of the SSR electoral barometer published in October.”

Sean Müller, a political scientist from Bern, said the Fribourg result matched those trends. Louis Ruffieux, former editor-in-chief of La Liberté, argued that the FDP opened the door to the SVP through its alliance with the Centre. The federal elections take place in October 2027.

Executive race heads to a second round

Romain Collaud and Didier Castella (FDP) and Marie-France Roth Pasquier (Centre) were elected to the cantonal executive in the first round, with Collaud and Castella posting the best scores of the day. SVP candidate Philippe Demierre, seen as a hardliner, took about 47% and fell short of an absolute majority. The second round is set for 29 November.