On December 12, 2007, all seven members of the Federal Council, the government of Switzerland, were elected by the joint chambers of the Federal Assembly for the 2008–2012 term of office. Councillors are elected individually by an absolute majority of votes, with the incumbent councillors defending their seats in descending order of seniority.
As a result of the non-election of their official candidate Christoph Blocher, the People's Party declared itself an opposition party and excluded its nominal representatives on the Federal Council, Samuel Schmid and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, from its parliamentary group.[2]