Martin Landolt (born 30 June 1968 in

Näfels Näfels is a former municipality in the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Effective from 1 January 2011, Näfels is part of the municipality of Glarus Nord. History Näfels is first mentioned in 1240 as ''Nevels''. In 1388, the Swiss Confederate ...

;

Place of origin In Switzerland, the place of origin (german: Heimatort or Bürgerort, literally "home place" or "citizen place"; french: Lieu d'origine; it, Luogo d'origine) denotes where a Swiss citizen has their municipal citizenship, usually inherited from prev ...

Glarus Nord Glarus Nord is one of three municipalities of the canton of Glarus, Switzerland (the others being Glarus and Glarus Süd). Effective from 1 January 2011, Glarus Nord incorporates the former municipalities of Bilten, Filzbach, Mollis, Mühleho ...

) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

politician and member of the

Swiss National Council The National Council (german: Nationalrat; french: Conseil national; it, Consiglio nazionale; rm, Cussegl naziunal) is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the upper house being the Council of States. With 200 seats, th ...

for the

Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland The Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (german: Bürgerlich-Demokratische Partei Schweiz, BDP; french: Parti bourgeois démocratique suisse, PBD; it, Partito Borghese Democratico Svizzero, PBD; rm, , PBD; ''Swiss Democratic Bourgeois ...

(BDP). From May 2012 to December 2020, he served as the President of the BDP.

Career

Landolt completed an apprenticeship at the

Glarner Kantonalbank ''Glarner Kantonalbank'' is the cantonal bank and the dominant retail banking group in the Swiss canton of Glarus. In 2014, the bank was listed in the SIX Swiss Exchange. Branches In addition to the headquarters in Glarus, there are branches in ...

. Later he completed a part-time diploma in economics. From November 2010 until October 2013 he worked at

UBS UBS Group AG is a multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swis ...

as a political advisor.

Politics

Landolt was elected to the of the

Canton of Glarus The canton of Glarus (german: Kanton Glarus rm, Chantun Glaruna; french: Canton de Glaris; it, Canton Glarona) is a canton in east central Switzerland. The capital is Glarus. The population speaks a variety of Alemannic German. The majority ...

in 1998 as a member of the Swiss People's Party (SVP). From 2003 to 2008 he was Vice-President of the Glarus branch of the SVP. He was President of the Landrat for the year 2006–2007. On 19 May 2008 he announced his resignation as vice-president and his departure from the party, claiming that the party no longer reflected his

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

values, finding fault with the party's style, and accusing it of a lack of fairness in internal disputes. His departure from the party came in the context of the SVP's expulsion of its Grisons branch after it refused to expel

Federal Councillor The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and gover ...

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 has since then been a member of th ...

from the party. In July 2008 he assumed the presidency of the "Liberal group" in the Glarus Landrat. On 28 August 2008, with around 100 others, he co-founded the Conservative Democratic Party of Glarus Canton: he was selected as party president, a role which he retained until April 2012. In October 2008, he participated in the establishment of the national BDP and he was elected to the National Council under the BDP banner on 8 February 2009 in the by-election which followed the resignation of Werner Marti. With his election, the BDP passed the threshold required to qualify as a

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamenta ...

and from spring 2009 it formed its own group in the Federal Assembly. Landolt was sworn in as a National Councillor on 2 March 2009. He served on the Committee for Finance (CdF-N), until December 2011. After he was re-elected to the National Council in the

2011 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2011. * Local electoral calendar 2011 * National electoral calendar 2011 * 2011 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2011 Beninese presidential election * 2011 Beninese parliamentary ele ...

, he served on the Committee for Political Institutions (CIP-N) and the Committee for Transport and Telecommunications (CTT-N). On 5 May 2012, Landolt was elected by

acclamation An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts. Voting Voice vot ...

as the new President of the BDP, succeeding Hans Grunder. Landolt made a notable social policy step in June 2014, when he announced the BDP's support for

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

and

LGBT adoption Same-sex adoption is the adoption of children by same-sex couples. It may take the form of a joint adoption by the couple, or of the adoption by one partner of the other's biological child (stepchild adoption). Joint adoption by same-sex coup ...

, simultaneously denouncing the SVP for homophobia. This announcement made the BDP the first Swiss right-of-center party to make completely equal rights for members of the LGBT community official party policy.

Personal life

Landolt is separated from his wife and is father to three daughters.Simon Hehli
''«Wir werden nie zur SVP zurückkehren».''
Interview on

20 Minuten ) , logo = 20Minuten Logo ab mai 2013.jpg , image = , caption = 20 Minutes logo (since May 2013) , alt = , type = Free daily newspaper , format = Tabl ...

, 4 May 2012 He lives in

References

Bibliography

Martin Landolt
on the website of the Federal Assembly (27 August 2013).

External links

*
Personal website of Martin Landolt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landolt, Martin People from the canton of Glarus Members of the National Council (Switzerland) Leaders of political parties Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Swiss People's Party politicians 1968 births Living people