Ueli Maurer

Ueli Maurer was born in 1950 in Wetzikon, Switzerland. He completed a commercial apprenticeship and obtained a federal accountancy diploma. He began his political career in the right-wing party SVP in 1978 as a local councillor, later serving as a cantonal councillor in the canton of Zurich before being elected to the National Council in 1991. In 2008, he was finally elected to the Federal Council, where he was head of the Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) until 2016 and has since served as head of the Department of Finance (FDF).