Walter Thurnherr Energy and Communications in 2011 as her chief of staff. He stood for election to succeed Corina Casanova as Federal Chancellor of Switzerland on 9 December 2015, as the first unopposed candidate in ninety years, and was elected by the Swiss Federal Assembly with 230 votes (out of 234 possible). He assumed office on 1 January 2016. Walter Thurnherr Walter Thurnherr (born 11 July 1963) is the Federal Chancellor of Switzerland since 1 January 2016. Born in Muri, Thurnherr graduated as a physicist at the ETH Zürich. In 1989, he joined the ranks of Switzerland's diplomatic corps. In 2002, he
Federal Council (Switzerland) practice, therefore, Councillors serve until they decide to resign and retire to private life, usually after three to five terms of office. Unlike most senior members of government in other countries, the Federal Councillors are not entitled to an official residence (however, the Federal Palace houses living apartments for both the Federal Chancellor and President of the Confederation). Mostly, they have chosen to rent apartments or hotel suites in Bern (at their own expense), However, they are entitled to use the Federal Council's country estate, Lohn, for holidays; this estate is also used to host official guests of the Swiss