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The Grand Council (German: Grosser Rat, French: Grand conseil) is the parliament of the Swiss canton of Bern.
It consists of 160 members (as of 2006) elected by proportional representation for a four-year term of office. The French-speaking part of the canton, the Bernese Jura (districts of Courtelary, La Neuveville and Moutier) has 12 seats guaranteed, and 3 seats are guaranteed for the French-speaking minority of the bilingual district of Biel/Bienne.
Composition
The last election was held on 27 March 2010, and resulted in a victory for the Swiss People's Party (SVP). However, whilst they maintained their plurality position, the main gainers were the Conservative Democratic Party, who gained eight seats on their pre-election position, having split from the SVP since the 2006 election. The Social Democratic Party and FDP.The Liberals both lost considerable ground.