The SVP thus formed the first opposition group in Switzerland since the 1950s, and in 2008, the two former SVP Federal Councillors joined the newly founded Conservative Democratic Party (BDP), largely centered around Bern.
The SVP thus formed the first opposition group in Switzerland since the 1950s. Shortly afterward, the Grisons branch, along with most of the Bern branch of which Schmid is a member, organised the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP), largely centered around Bern.