In the wake of the threat posed by extremists in the 1930s to Switzerland's democratic system, the parties which favoured parliamentary democracy started to look for consensus rather than confrontation.

The Socialists moved slightly towards the political centre, and the "bourgeois bloc" accepted the Social Democratic Party (SP) as a legitimate opponent.

The SP obtained its first seat in the Federal Council in 1943, with the election of Ernst Nobs.

Between 1959 and 2003 the seats in the Federal Council were apportioned according to the "Magic Formula" with the Free Democrats (FDP), Christian Democrats and SP each having two members, and the Swiss People's Party (successor to the Peasants' Party) having one.

By the end of the century the parties of the centre were losing ground to both left and right. In 1995 the left-wing Social Democrats became for the first time the strongest party in elections to the National Council. In the 2003 elections they were overtaken by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, and the old centre parties were squeezed yet further.

As a result of its electoral success, the Swiss People's Party gained a second seat in the Federal Council at the expense of the Christian Democrats.