Elections to the Swiss Federal Council were held on 10 December 2003 to elect all seven of
Switzerland's
Federal Council. The 246 members of the
United Federal Assembly elect the seven members individually by an absolute majority of votes, with the members serving for four years, beginning on 1 January 2004, or until resigning.
Six of the seven incumbents were running for re-election. Five were re-elected, but
Ruth Metzler lost in her re-election bid: the first time an incumbent Federal Councillor had failed to be re-elected since 1872. In her place was elected
Christoph Blocher of the
Swiss People's Party (SVP). This modified the
magic formula, by which the four largest parties have shared power on the Federal Council by a set formula since 1959; Metzler's
Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP) was reduced from two seats to one, and Blocher's SVP increased from one to two.