Claude Ruey (born 29 November 1949) is a Swiss politician. He was a member of the National Council from 1999 to 2011. From 2002 to 2008, he was the president of the

Liberal Party of Switzerland french: Parti liberal suisse it, Partito Liberale Svizzero rm, Partida liberala svizra , logo = LPS.Logo.jpg , foundation = , dissolution = , merged = FDP.The Liberals , headquarters = Spitalgasse 32, Case postale 71073001 Bern , ideolo ...

. During his presidency, the Liberal Party moved towards its merger with the

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

to form

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 ...

Biography

Ruey was born in

Nyon Nyon (; outdated German: or ; outdated Italian: , ) is a municipality in Nyon District in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilometers north east of Geneva's city centre, and since the 1970s it has become part of the G ...

and grew up in the municipality of

Gland In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream ( endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface ( exocrine gland). Structure ...

in the

Canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms ...

. He studied political science and law at the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switze ...

. In 1973, at the age of 24, he was elected to the municipal council of Nyon. In 1974, he joined the

Grand Council of Vaud The Grand Council of Vaud (french: Grand Conseil de Vaud) is the legislature of the canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. Vaud has a unicameral legislature. The Great Council has 150 seats, with members elected every five years. The last electi ...

. where he served until 1990. In 1990, he became a member of the

Council of State of Vaud The Council of State of the Canton of Vaud (french: Conseil d'État du Canton de Vaud) is the executive organ of the Canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. Vaud has a seven-member ''Conseil d'État''. The responsibilities of the Council of State is t ...

. He was elected to the National Council in the

1999 Swiss federal election Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 24 October 1999.Dieter Nohlen & Pjilip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1895 Although the Swiss People's Party received the most votes for the first time in the party's his ...

. He was a member of the Foreign Policy Committee during his first term. In 2002, Jacques-Simon Eggly stepped down as the president of the Liberal Party. Ruey ran for the presidency unopposed and was elected to the post in June 2008. He took over a party that had lost seats in prior elections and lost its seat on the

Federal Council Federal Council may refer to: Governmental bodies * Federal Council of Australasia, a forerunner to the current Commonwealth of Australia * Federal Council of Austria, the upper house of the Austrian federal parliament * Federal Council of Germa ...

. In the 2003 elections the Liberals ran on a joint slate with the Free Democratic Party after losing a number of seats in prior elections. Following the election, losses by both parties pushed Ruey and FDP President Christiane Langenberger to pursue closer cooperation between the two parties. Ruey pushed to continue the cooperation of the parties and they formed a common parliamentary group in 2005. As late as January 2007, Ruey avoided pushing for a formal merger; however, the loss of additional seats in the

2007 Swiss federal election Elections to the Swiss Federal Assembly, the federal parliament of Switzerland, were held on Sunday, 21 October 2007. In a few cantons, a second round of the elections to the Council of States was held on 11 November, 18 November, and 25 Novembe ...

led Ruey to propose a formal merger. In 2008, Ruey resigned as the party leader in order to become the president of EPER/HEKS, the aid society of the Swiss Protestant church. He was succeeded by

Pierre Weiss Pierre-Ernest Weiss (25 March 1865, Mulhouse – 24 October 1940, Lyon) was a French physicist who specialized in magnetism. He developed the domain theory of ferromagnetism in 1907. Weiss domains and the Weiss magneton are named after him. ...

in April 2008. In 2011, he stood down from parliament. In addition to his political career, he has served as the president of the foundation of

Chillon Castle Chillon Castle (french: Château de Chillon) is an island castle located on Lake Geneva, south of Veytaux in the canton of Vaud. It is situated at the eastern end of the lake, on the narrow shore between Montreux and Villeneuve, which gives acce ...

and president of the

Visions du Réel Visions du Réel (Visions of Reality) is an internationally renowned documentary film festival held in April each year in Nyon, Switzerland. Established in 1969 as the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival, the event adopted its current n ...

film festival.

References

External links

Official Parliament Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruey, Claude 1949 births Living people Liberal Party of Switzerland politicians FDP.The Liberals politicians Members of the National Council (Switzerland) People from Nyon