Regina Durrer-Knobel: ‘Politics is always about the personal’

As a teacher, Regina Durrer-Knobel found there was nothing more boring than a well-behaved class. Last October, Durrer-Knobel became the first woman from canton Nidwalden in central Switzerland to be elected to the House of Representatives. The students stream out of the underground car park into the school building. In rural Nidwalden, the young people of the cantonal capital, Stans, travel to the local vocational school by car. Until she was elected to parliament last autumn, Regina Durrer-Knobel, the deputy head of the school, taught business studies here. Even aspects of accounting were a subject of lively debate for some of her students. Debate as a source of energy “There's nothing more boring than an obedient class,” she says. “It's very tedious to teach.” The work is interesting when a class questions the school rules, she says. Debate is also a source of energy in politics for the new member of parliament from the conservative Centre Party. “Whenever I come out of a ...