Switzerland general election: Swiss People's Party tops poll with 29% of vote, projected results show

The right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) topped Switzerland's general election on Sunday (Oct 22) with 29 per cent of the vote, the first result projections for the lower house of parliament showed.

According to market research group GFS Bern which carried out main polling throughout the poll campaign, the SVP improved its vote share by more than three percentage points and finished well ahead of the left-wing Social Democrats on 17 per cent and the centre-right party the Centre on 15 per cent.

The SVP had campaigned on a platform of preventing the country's population - currently at 8.7 million people - exceeding 10 million. It also picked up votes from people concerned about the slowing economy and the rising cost of living, GSF Bern said.

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Polling stations in Switzerland closed at noon (1000 GMT), the vast majority of voters having posted their ballots over the past four weeks, the news agency AFP reported. Voters voted for all 200 seats in the National Council lower house of parliament and all 46 in the Council of States upper chamber.

The result is unlikely to change the makeup of Switzerland's government, the Federal Council, where seven cabinet positions are divided among the top four parties, according to their share of the vote.

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