Government Council
The Government Council is the supreme executive authority in the canton. It upholds the constitution and enforces the laws, ordinances, and decisions of the Cantonal Parliament. Its seven full-time members are elected by popular majority vote every four years.
Table of contents
Welcome
Dear people of Zurich, dear guests from near and far. A warm welcome to a safe, socially responsible^and sporty canton. These are all things close to my heart. But there’s much more to it than that. Zurich is connected with the whole world. We’re modern and maintain our traditions. We’re rural and urban. Zurich has factories and insurance companies as well as lakes and mountains. The many people who live in Zurich speak numerous different languages. Canton Zurich is a good place to live and work. In recent months our canton, its inhabitants, its economy and society have also been confronted with very special challenges, and continue to be so: pandemic, the terrible war in Ukraine and the up heaval in banking. The Government Council steers the Canton of Zurich wisely and with a steady hand. It does so in dialogue with the people of Zurich and with its partners in the towns, cities and municipalities, other cantons and the federal government. I hope that we will continue to approach the tasks that face us every day with humility and modesty, in the knowledge that amid all the uncertainty around the globe, we are still doing very well. I am grateful for that. We can trust and build on this together!
Mario Fehr, President of the Government Council of the Canton of Zurich
More about the Government Council
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For the term from May 8th, 2023, to April 30th, 2024, the Government Council elected Mario Fehr as its president and Natalie Rickli as its vice president.
The order in which members are elected president depends on how long they have been in office. Newly elected members of the Government Council must usually wait until all members who have been in office longer than themselves have been president. Only then can they be elected vice president and subsequently president of the Government Council.
If several members were elected into the Government Council on the same date, the older member is given priority.
In certain justified cases, the Government Council can make an exception to this rule. If, for example, a member takes over a new department at the same time, their presidency can be postponed by one year.
| Department | Head | Proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Justice and Home Affairs | Jacqueline Fehr | Natalie Rickli |
| Department of Security | Mario Fehr | Carmen Walker Späh |
| Department of Finance | Ernst Stocker | Mario Fehr |
| Department for Economic Affairs | Carmen Walker Späh | Martin Neukom |
| Department of Health | Natalie Rickli | Dr. Silvia Steiner |
| Department of Education | Dr. Silvia Steiner | Jacqueline Fehr |
| Building Department | Dr. Martin Neukom |
Ernst Stocker |
| Chancellery | Dr. Kathrin Arioli | Dr. Peter Hösli |
- Download Interessenbindungen von Regierungsrat Ernst Stocker PDF | 3 Pages | Deutsch | 131 KB
- Download Interessenbindungen von Regierungsrat Mario Fehr PDF | 3 Pages | Deutsch | 232 KB
- Download Interessenbindungen von Regierungsrätin Carmen Walker Späh PDF | 3 Pages | Deutsch | 228 KB
- Download Interessenbindungen von Regierungsrätin Silvia Steiner PDF | 3 Pages | Deutsch | 140 KB
- Download Interessenbindungen von Regierungspräsidentin Jacqueline Fehr PDF | 3 Pages | Deutsch | 236 KB
- Download Interessenbindungen von Regierungsrätin Natalie Rickli PDF | 3 Pages | Deutsch | 232 KB
- Download Interessenbindungen von Regierungsrat Martin Neukom PDF | 3 Pages | Deutsch | 138 KB
The Government Council's duties
The Government Council is the supreme executive authority in the canton. Its seven full-time members are elected by popular majority vote every four years and take decisions together as a collegial body. The Government Council’s duties include:
- Drafting laws, amendments to the constitution and legislation and spending bills for approval by the cantonal parliament or
the electorate - Managing a cantonal administration with about 33,000 staff
- Determining the interim and long-term goals of government policies
- Supervising the various authorities
- Preparing the budget
- Representing the canton within Switzerland with respect to the Confederation and other cantons
- Negotiating international and intercantonal agreements
- Ruling on administrative appeals
- Recruiting top-level administrative staff
