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Hannah Pfalzgraf

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Hannah Pfalzgraf
Member of the Cantonal Council of Zürich
for the Affoltern District
Assumed office
15 January 2018
Preceded byMoritz Spillmann
Personal details
Born1997 (age 26–27)
Political partySocial Democratic Party
Other political
affiliations		Young Socialists
Alma materBasel Art School

Hannah Pfalzgraf (born 1997) is a Swiss trade unionist and politician who has served in the Cantonal Council of Zürich since 2018 as a member of the Social Democratic Party. Taking office at the age of 20, she was the youngest-ever cantonal councillor in Zürich at the time. Pfalzgraf has also been co-president of the Trade Union Confederation of the Canton of Zurich since 2023.

Biography[edit]

Hannah Pfalzgraf was born in 1997. She is a resident of Mettmenstetten.[1][2] Raised in a politically-active family with left-wing beliefs in the Canton of Zürich, Pfalzgraf joined the Young Socialists (JUSO) in the aftermath of the 2014 Swiss immigration initiative.[3][4] She was a board member of the JUSO branch in Zürich City from 2014 until 2017, and a board member of the cantonal branch of JUSO from 2017 until 2018. Since 2014, she has also been a board member of the Social Democratic Party (SP) branch in the Affoltern District.[1] She attended the Basel Art School, studying to become a visual arts teacher.[2]

In the 2015 elections, Pfalzgraf ran for the Cantonal Council of Zürich, standing in the Affoltern constituency. Aged just 18, she was the youngest candidate in the entire canton and ran an active campaign seeking to appeal to young voters.[2][3] She placed third on the SP party list – behind Moritz Spillmann and another candidate – but was not elected.[5][6] On 15 January 2018, Pfalzgraf became a member of the cantonal council following Spillmann's resignation.[7] Aged 20, she was the youngest cantonal councillor ever elected in Zürich until Leandra Columberg in 2019.[8][9] Pfalzgraf was a member of the State and Local Government Commission in her first term and the Finance Commission in her second and third terms.[1]

Upon taking office, Pfalzgraf's main legislative priorities were gender equality, education, health, and feminism.[5] In 2019, she introduced a proposal which obligates the cantonal government to ensure net zero carbon emissions by 2030 and encourage cooperation with other cantons to reach net zero by 2050 for the whole country. The proposal passed by a vote of 89 to 84.[10] The following year, she introduced another proposal  – supported by the SP, Greens, and Green Liberals – which would guarantee foreigners up to the age of 25 would not have to pay the cantonal naturalization fee.[11] By 2023, Pfalzgraf had become the spokeswoman for the SP in the cantonal council. In this role, she announced her party's opposition to a proposed budget by the ruling Swiss People's Party which would include tax cuts for the wealthy and would cut the budgets for prisons and social services.[12][13] In the 2023 Swiss federal election, she ran for the National Council on SP Zürich's queer sub-list, but was not elected.[14]

On 1 July 2023, she became co-president of the Trade Union Confederation of the Canton of Zurich (GBKZ), serving alongside David Martinez.[15] In this position, she has opposed legislative proposals which would expand the number of designated Sunday shopping days and replace May Day as an official holiday with the Sechseläuten.[16][17] She has been a member of the Swiss Union of Public Service Personnel since 2018.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Hannah Pfalzgraf". Cantonal Council of Zürich (in German). Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Schraner, Thomas (18 November 2017). "Eine neue Stimme im Parlament: Hannah Pfalzgraf ist die jüngste Kantonsrätin aller Zeiten" [A New Voice in Parliament: Hannah Pfalzgraf is the Youngest Cantonal Councillor of All Time]. Limmattaler Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b Kaiser, Pascal (15 January 2018). "Mit 20 Jahren im ZH-Kantonsrat - «Viele Leute waren froh, jemanden Junges auf der Liste zu haben»" [At 20 Years in the Zurich Cantonal Council - "Many People Were Happy to Have Someone Young on the List"]. Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (in German). Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  4. ^ Hess, Stephanie (20 August 2018). "«Ich will ja etwas bewegen»" ["I want to make a difference"]. Annabelle (in German). Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Sie ist die jüngste Zürcher Kantonsrätin aller Zeiten" [She is the Youngest Zurich Cantonal Councillor of All Time]. 20 Minuten (in German). 14 November 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  6. ^ Zellweger, Conradin; Gacond, Lucien (14 January 2018). "Für Hannah Pfalzgraf (20) ist das Alter nicht entscheidend" [For Hannah Pfalzgraf (20) Age is Not Important]. Nau (in German). Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Die jüngste Kantonsrätin, die es je gab" [The Youngest Cantonal Councillor Ever]. Tages-Anzeiger (in German). 14 November 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Jüngste Kantonsrätin aller Zeiten: 20-Jährige ersetzt Moritz Spillmann" [Youngest Cantonal Councillor of All Time: 20-year-old Replaces Moritz Spillmann]. Luzerner Zeitung (in German). 14 November 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  9. ^ Probst, Joel (19 June 2019). "Leandra Columberg (Juso) ist mit 19 schon Kantonsrätin" [Leandra Columberg (Juso) is Already a Cantonal Councilor at 19]. Blick (in German). Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  10. ^ Rentsch, Christian (14 May 2019). "Der Zürcher Kantonsrat will vorwärts machen" [The Zurich Cantonal Council Wants to Move Forward]. KlimaNews (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Junge sollen sich gratis einbürgern können" [Young People Should Be Able to Naturalise for Free]. Züriost (in Swiss High German). 12 May 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  12. ^ Unternährer, Pascal; Schneebeli, Daniel; Arnet, Hélène (11 December 2023). "Zürich senkt die Steuern – günstiger wirds aber kaum" [Zurich Lowers Taxes – but It Will Hardly Be Cheaper]. Tages-Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  13. ^ Geisseler, Zeno (11 December 2023). "Rote Zahlen auf Jahre hinaus – jetzt muss der Kanton Zürich bei den Ausgaben und beim Personal auf die Bremse treten" [Red Numbers for Years to Come – Now the Canton of Zurich Must Put the Brakes on Spending and Personnel]. Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Queere Unterliste der Zürcher SP für die Nationalratswahlen" [Queer Sublist of the Zurich SP for the National Council Elections]. Wipkinger Zeitung (in German). 11 August 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Gewerkschaftsbund Zürich mit neuem Präsidium" [Zurich Trade Union Federation With New Presidium]. Trade Union Confederation of the Canton of Zurich (in German). 29 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  16. ^ De Boer, Jan (21 November 2023). "Switzerland debates expanding Sonntagsverkauf to nearly a quarter of all Sundays". IamExpat. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  17. ^ Geisseler, Zeno (4 May 2024). "Die Zürcher SVP will den 1. Mai abschaffen – und dafür das Sechseläuten zu einem kantonalen Feiertag machen" [The Zurich SVP Wants to Abolish May 1st – and Instead Make Sechseläuten a Cantonal Holiday]. Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
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