Natalie Simone Rickli (born 19 November 1976) is a Swiss communications consultant and politician who currently serves as a member of the Executive Council of Zürich and Head of the Department of Health for the Swiss People's Party since 2019.[1] She previously served on the National Council (Switzerland) from 2007 to 2019.[2] Rickli briefly served on the Cantonal Council of Zurich from May 2007 to November 2007.
Natalie Rickli | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2009 | |
| Member of the National Council of Switzerland | |
| In office 3 December 2007 – 2 June 2019 | |
| Succeeded by | Martin Haab |
| Member of the Executive Council of Zürich | |
| Assumed office 24 March 2019 | |
| Director of Health of the Canton of Zürich | |
| Assumed office 24 March 2019 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Natalie Simone Rickli 19 November 1976 Winterthur, Switzerland |
| Political party | Swiss People's Party |
| Domestic partner | Frank Eisenhut (since 2019) |
| Website | natalie-rickli |
Early life and education
Rickli was born 19 November 1976 in Winterthur, Switzerland the eldest of three daughters of Alfred Rickli (1944-2010), a car body mechanic, and Marianne Rickli (née Scherrer; 1953-2018), who worked in elderly care and newspaper carrier.[3][4] She was raised by modest means in the small hamlet Riet near Neftenbach. In 1992, when she was 16 years old, her parents got divorced.[5] In her teenage years she befriended Chantal Galladé who would also become a member of the National Council (Switzerland). During those years she expressed the desire to become a flight attendant, however ultimately completed a commercial apprenticeship at Fenaco.[6]
Career
Rickli started her professional career in the publishing business.[7] She then moved to the advertising industry, where she marketed print products and websites for sports, Weltwoche, PCtipp and Computerworld, among others. She worked at the former Qualiclick AG in Zollikon as a website manager, then at the publishing house IDG as head of advertising administration and marketing, later at AdLINK Schweiz AG as site relations manager,[8] she switched to IP Multimedia (Switzerland) AG [9] in 2009. Until the end of 2017, she worked in a variety of positions for Goldbach Media. Since 2018, she is the owner and principal consultant of communication@natalierickli, a public relations and communications agency.[10]
Politics
Rickli was elected as member of the National Council of Switzerland from the Canton of Zürich in 2007. She was part of the World Economic Forum's 2013 Young Leadership program.[11] In March 2019, she was elected to the Executive Council of Zürich and appointed as the Director of Health.[12][13] Rickli is a member of a Campaign for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland.[14]
Sexual harassment case
In 2014, a rap group composed a song that targeted Rickli with sexually charged lyrics. The group was prosecuted in Zürich and found guilty of defamation and abuse. That verdict was upheld by the cantonal court. The courts, however, found that the rappers were not guilty of sexual harassment in the grounds that Rickli did not listen to the song. A victim of harassment would have to be present to hear the abuse. The case was later sent to the federal courts, which also acquitted in the charge of sexual harassment.[15][16]
Personal life
Since 2019, Rickli has been in a relationship with Frank Eisenhut, who is Head of Real Estate Controlling at Swiss Life.[17][18]