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Christoph Blocher (view source)

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When Blocher was voted into the [[Swiss Federal Council]] in 2003, he retired from all business functions in EMS and sold his majority holding with his four children on Dcemeber 30, 2003.<ref name=History>{{cite web|url=http://www.ems-group.com/en/about-ems/about-ems/company-history/ |title=EMS Company History |publisher=EMS-Chemie |date=1 January 2015 |accessdate=17 August 2015}}</ref><ref name="Forbes"/> Blocher's oldest daughter, [[Magdalena Martullo-Blocher]], became CEO of EMS on January 1, 2004.<ref name=History/><ref name="Forbes"/>

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Blocher was a successful businessman, and when he was a member of the Federal Council, he was worth about $1.4 billion, the ninth wealthiest person in Switzerland..<ref name="BBC"/>

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Blocher was a successful businessman, and when he was a member of the Federal Council, he was worth about $1.4 billion, the ninth wealthiest person in Switzerland.<ref name="BBC"/>

==Political career==

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===Early career===

Blocher has state that "he fell into politics by chance following a local zoning dispute."<ref name="Firebrand"/> He became the chairman of the Zürich canton chapter of the SVP, and in 1979 he was elected to the Swiss National Council, the lower legislative chamber.<ref name="BBC">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3206778.stm Profile: Christoph Blocher]. ''BBC News''. October 15, 2007. Retrieved October 8, 2016.</ref>

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In 1986, Blocher "led and financed" a campaign opposed to joining the [[United Nations]].<ref name="BBC"/> Blocher the successful, as over 75 percent of the Swiss population voted against joining.<ref name="Geschichte"/> After the referendum, on June 19, 1986, he and fellow National Councilor Otto Fischer, a member of the FDP, founded the [[Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland]] (AUNS), a conservative organization that supports complete Swiss political independence and direct democracy and opposes the erosion of Swiss sovereignty by international organizations.<ref name="Geschichte">{{cite web | title=Geschichte | url=http://auns.ch/ueber-uns/geschichte/ | publisher=''Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland official website'' | accessdate=October 8, 2016}}</ref> Blocher served as the president of AUNS from its foundation until his election to the Federal Council in 2003.<ref name="Geschichte"/><ref>{{cite web | last1=Kuenzi | first1=Renat | title=‘We’re Not the Only EU Sceptics’ | url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/conservative-pressure-group_-we-re-not-the-only-eu-sceptics-/38582264 | date=May 15, 2014 | publisher=''[[Swissinfo]]'' | accessdate=April 1, 2016 | quote=Lukas Reimann took over the presidency in April 2014 from 52-year-old Pirmin Schwander, who himself had taken over from Blocher in 2004.}}</ref><ref name="Timeline">{{cite web|url=http://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline/latest/embed/index.html?source=0As5Cu9wUGtlAdGhFakdiT2ZnekJROERCSzEyOFBiTUE |title=TimelineJS Embed |website=Cdn.knightlab.com |accessdate=April 2, 2016}}</ref>

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Due to Blocher's influence, the SVP started shifting to the right, opposing Swiss integration into the globalist and socialistic EU.<ref name="BBC"/><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/place/Switzerland/World-War-I-and-economic-crisis Recent developments - Switzerland]. ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Retrieved October 8, 2016.</ref> Because it was the only major party that took real conservative positions, it rose quickly in popularity, reaching 22.5% in 1999 and over 29% in 2015.

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===Swiss Federal Council===

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Blocher was elected to the Swiss Federal Council after the 2003 elections, after the SVP received a record amount of votes.<ref>[https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/federal-council/members-of-the-federal-council/christoph-blocher.html Christoph Blocher]. ''admin.ch''. October 8, 2016.</ref> Because he was the only federal councilor who took a real conservative stance, he was controversial and was not re-elected by the Swiss politicians in 2007, even though the SVP received an even larger share of the vote.

==Personal life==

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