Despite efforts to attract voters with a populist anti-immigration campaign, the Swiss People's Party (SVP) lost its share of the poll in a general election on Sunday that saw a rise in support for more moderate smaller parties.

The nationalist SVP was projected to take 25.9 percent of the vote for the lower house, 3 percent down on its showing at the country's last general election four years ago. "It's a defeat. We had a target of 30 percent," vice chairman of the party Christoph Blocher told Swiss television.

The SVP had aimed to better its 2007 score of 28.8 percent. It appears to have lost some support since then, with a party split emerging that gave rise to the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP). The BDP, which was founded to support Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf after she was expelled from the SVP, gained a surprise 5.4 percent of the vote.

In second place, the center-left Social Democrats were expected to win an electoral share of 18.9 percent.

Change in air for Greens

Meanwhile, the Greens suffered surprise losses with 7.9 percent of the vote, a drop of 1.7 percent from four years ago. The SVP and Greens were each projected to lose seven seats in Switzerland's 200-seat lower chamber.

The centrist Green Liberal Party was expected to gain 9 seats following a popular anti-nuclear campaign, while the centrist Conservative Democrats also made gains.

Opinion polls in advance of the poll had predicted that the SVP would improve its showing, with the party's main campaign platform, immigration, seen as a major concern.

The wide array of parties in Switzerland means that there is intense haggling after every election as political groups make demands for fair representation in the country's cross-party government.

Author: Richard Connor (AP, AFP, Reuters)
Editor: Nicole Goebel