Karin Keller-Sutter (born 22 December 1963) is a Swiss politician who has served as a

Member of the Swiss Federal Council Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

since 2019. A member of

FDP.The Liberals french: PLR.Les Libéraux-Radicaux it, PLR.I Liberali Radicali rm, PLD.Ils Liberals , logo = , caption = Logo of the party in French, German, and Italian , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Thierry Burkart ...

, she is the head of the

Federal Department of Justice and Police The Federal Department of Justice and Police (german: Eidgenössisches Justiz- und Polizeidepartement, french: Département fédéral de justice et police, it, Dipartimento federale di giustizia e polizia, rm, ) is one of the seven departme ...

. Keller-Sutter previously served as President of the Council of States for the 2017–2018 term.

Biography

Early career

Karin Keller-Sutter lived her childhood in

Wil Wil () is the capital of the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Wil in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Wil is the third largest city in the Canton of St. Gallen, after the city of St. Gallen and Rapperswil-Jona, a twin city that merged in ...

before moving to

Neuchâtel , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France), ...

. She studied

language interpretation Interpreting is a translational activity in which one produces a first and final target-language output on the basis of a one-time exposure to an expression in a source language. The most common two modes of interpreting are simultaneous inter ...

at Dolmetscherschule Zurich in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

(now the School of Applied Linguistics at the

Zurich University of Applied Sciences The Zürich University of Applied Sciences (German: ''Zürcher Fachhochschule'', ZFH) is a governing body composed of four separate universities. It is located in the city of Winterthur, with facilities in Zürich and Wädenswil, is the second la ...

). She then worked in a private capacity while studying political science in London and Montreal. She also achieved a pedagogy post-grad from the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (french: Université de Fribourg; german: Universität Freiburg) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius ...

and worked as a professor in a professional school. Keller-Sutter is a former vice president of the board of trustees of the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies.

Political career

Keller-Sutter undertook a political career as a municipal councillor in Wil between 1992 and 2000. She presided the municipal assembly in 1997. From 1996 to 2000, she was a deputy of the ''

Kantonsrat This is a list of cantonal legislatures of Switzerland. Each canton has a democratically elected cantonal legislature, as well as elected members to the Federal Assembly. The cantonal legislatures are elected for four years, except in Fribo ...

'' of the

canton of St. Gallen The canton of St. Gallen, also canton of St Gall (german: link=no, Kanton St. Gallen ; rm, Chantun Son Gagl; french: Canton de Saint-Gall; it, Canton San Gallo), is a canton of Switzerland. The capital is St. Gallen. Located in northeastern ...

, while presiding the local arm of the FDP. On 12 March 2000, Keller-Sutter was elected to the '' Regierungsrat'' of the canton of St. Gallen, where she was appointed to the department for security and justice. She was also vice president of the conference of cantonal directors for justice and police. She presided the government in 2006–2007. On 22 September 2010, Keller-Sutter was a candidate for the

Swiss Federal Council The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governme ...

to succeed

Hans-Rudolf Merz Hans-Rudolf Merz (born 10 November 1942) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2004 to 2010. A member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) until the foundation of FDP.The Liberals in 2009, he headed th ...

but failed to win the election;

Johann Schneider-Ammann Johann Niklaus Schneider-Ammann (born Schneider, 18 February 1952) is a Swiss businessman and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2010 to 2018. A member of FDP.The Liberals, he was President of the Swiss Confedera ...

, a member of the National Council for the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...

since 1999, won the seat instead. On 23 October 2011, she was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

with 65% of the vote to represent the canton of St. Gallen in the Council of States. She served as President of the Council of States in 2017–2018. On 8 October 2018, she once again announced her candidacy for Swiss Federal Council, this time for the seat of recently retired Schneider-Ammann, who had defeated her eight years before. On 5 December 2018, she was

for the Federal Council with 154 votes out of 237, alongside

Viola Amherd Viola Patricia Amherd (born 7 June 1962) is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2019. She is the head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport. Amherd was a member of the Chris ...

of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC).

Notes and references

External links

Karin Keller-Sutter's website
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Keller-Sutter, Karin 1963 births 20th-century Swiss women politicians 21st-century Swiss women politicians 20th-century Swiss politicians 21st-century Swiss politicians Living people Presidents of the Council of States (Switzerland) Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) People from Wil Women members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) FDP.The Liberals politicians Female justice ministers