Samuel Schmid (born 8 January 1947) is a Swiss politician who served as a

Member of the Swiss Federal Council The seven members of the Federal Council (Switzerland), Swiss Federal Council (; ; ; ) constitute the federal government of Switzerland and collectively serve as the country's head of state. Each of the seven Federal Councillors heads a departm ...

from 2000 to 2008. He was the head of the

Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports The Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS, , , , ) is one of the seven Ministry (government department), departments of the Switzerland, Swiss federal government. It is headed by a member of the Federal Council (Switze ...

(notably acting as a

defense minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

for Switzerland). Schmid was born in Rüti bei Büren,

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

. He was elected to the Federal Council on 6 December 2000. He was a member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), and is now a member of The Centre. During his time in office he has held the

. In 2004, he was the vice- President of the Confederation and President in 2005. Schmid was a member of the SVP's centrist/agrarian wing. He was put under pressure by the party's nationalist wing, led by National Councillor

Christoph Blocher Christoph Wolfram Blocher (; born 11 October 1940) is a Swiss industrialist and politician who served as a List of members of the Swiss Federal Council, Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2004 to 2007. A member of the Swiss People's Party ( ...

, for taking a moderate stance on certain issues. After the SVP became the largest party in the Federal Assembly in the 2003 federal elections, the SVP threatened to remove Schmid from the Council if it didn't get an additional seat (which eventually went to Blocher in that year). After Blocher was defeated for reelection to the Federal Council in favour of another SVP moderate,

Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (born 16 March 1956) is a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2008 to 2015. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) until 2008, she was then a member of the splinter ...

, the SVP caucus voted to exclude Schmid and Widmer-Schlumpf from the party group. Some called for them to be thrown out of the party altogether. However, Swiss parties are legally federations of cantonal parties. For Schmid to have been expelled, the SVP's Bern section would have had to terminate his membership, and it refused to do so. In 2008, Schmid joined the newly formed Conservative Democratic Party, along with almost all of the SVP's Bern section. On 12 November 2008, Schmid resigned from the Federal Council effective 1 January 2009. The resignation followed a months-long period of intense political pressure by the Swiss People's Party owing to scandals and accidents in the Swiss military, as well as bouts of ill health. Samuel Schmid was succeeded by

Ueli Maurer Ulrich "Ueli" Maurer (; born 1 December 1950) is a Swiss politician who served as a List of members of the Swiss Federal Council, Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 2009 to 2022. A member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), he was Pres ...

of the Swiss People's Party.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmid, Samuel Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Presidents of the Swiss Confederation Defence ministers of Switzerland 1947 births Living people Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Swiss People's Party politicians People from Seeland District Swiss Protestants 21st-century Swiss politicians Doping in Russia University of Bern alumni