Flanders is the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities,regions and language areas of Belgium. However,there are several overlapping definitions,including ones related to culture,language,politics,and history,and sometimes involving neighbouring countries. The demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming,while the corresponding adjective is Flemish,which can also refer to the collective of Dutch dialects spoken in that area,or more generally the Belgian variant of Standard Dutch. The official capital of Flanders is the City of Brussels,although the Brussels-Capital Region that includes it has an independent regional government. The powers of the government of Flanders consist,among others,of economic affairs in the Flemish Region and the community aspects of Flanders life in Brussels,such as Flemish culture and education.
The politics of Belgium take place in the framework of a federal,representative democratic,constitutional monarchy. The King of the Belgians is the head of state,and the prime minister of Belgium is the head of government,in a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament,the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. The federation is made up of (language-based) communities and (territorial) regions. Philippe is the seventh and current King of the Belgians,having ascended the throne on 21 July 2013.
The minister-president of Flanders is the head of the Flemish Government,which is the executive branch of the Flemish Region and Flemish Community.
Christian Democratic and Flemish is a Flemish Christian-democratic political party in Belgium. The party has historical ties to both trade unionism (ACV) and trade associations (UNIZO) and the Farmer's League. Until 2001,the party was named the Christian People's Party.
The New Flemish Alliance is a Flemish nationalist,conservative and Eurosceptic political party in Belgium. The party was established in 2001 by the right-leaning faction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union (VU).
The Flemish Parliament constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders,both as a geographic region and as a cultural community of Belgium.
The Flemish Government is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet,headed by the Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Parliament,and the public administration divided into 13 policy areas,each with an executive department and multiple agencies.
Geert Albert Bourgeois is a Belgian politician of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA),which he founded in 2001,who is currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. He previously served as the Minister-President of Flanders from 2014 to 2019. Prior to this,he was a member of the federal Chamber of Representatives for the People's Union from 1995 to 2001,and then for the N-VA from 2001 to 2004. He has been involved in local and regional politics in Flanders since 1976.
Hilde Urbanie Julia Crevits is a Belgian politician from Flanders and member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party who is currently the Flemish minister of Economy,Innovation,Work,Social economy and Agriculture.
Bart Albert Liliane De Wever is a Belgian politician. Since 2004,De Wever has been the leader of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA),a political party advocating for the transformation of Belgium into a confederal state. He is also a member of the Chamber of Representatives. De Wever presided over his party's victory in the 2010 federal elections when N-VA became the largest party in both Flanders and in Belgium as a whole. He accomplished this again in the subsequent 3 elections,eventually being tasked with forming a new government by King Philippe following the 2024 elections.
Wilfried Vandaele is a Belgian politician and is affiliated to the N-VA. He has been a member of the Flemish Parliament since 2009 and has served as its speaker between 13 July and 2 October 2019. He is also the current mayor of his home town De Haan.
Jan Jambon is a Belgian businessman and politician of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) who has been serving as Minister-President of Flanders since 2019. He replaced Kris Peeters as a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in 2007. The N-VA was,at that time,partnered with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish party. In June 2010 and May 2014 he was re-elected on an N-VA list.
Ben Weyts is a Belgian politician of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA). He has been a Vice Minister-President of Flanders in the Jambon Government since 2019,and serves as the Flemish minister for Animal Welfare,the Brussels Periphery,Education,and Sport. He previously served in the Homans and Bourgeois governments from 2014 to 2019. He was a member of the Chamber of Representatives from 2008 to 2014.
Federal elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected,whereas the Senate was no longer directly elected following the 2011–2012 state reform. These were the first elections held under King Philippe's reign.
Regional elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014 to choose representatives for the Flemish Parliament,Walloon Parliament,Brussels Parliament and the Parliament of the German-speaking Community. These elections were held on the same day as the 2014 European elections as well as the 2014 Belgian federal election.
The Bourgeois Government (Regering-Bourgeois) was the Flemish Government formed following the 2014 Flemish Parliament election. The cabinet consisted of a centre-right coalition of the nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA),the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V) and the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats. It had a large majority in the Flemish Parliament and the main opposition parties were the Socialist Party (sp.a),which had been part of nearly all previous governments in recent history,and the Green party.
Federal elections were held in Belgium on 26 May 2019,alongside the country's European and regional elections. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected from eleven multi-member constituencies.
The 2019 Belgian regional elections took place on Sunday 26 May,the same day as the 2019 European Parliament election as well as the Belgian federal election.
The Homans Government (Regering-Homans) was the interim Flemish Government formed and sworn in on 2 July 2019,following the departure of Flemish Minister-President Geert Bourgeois who took up his seat in the European Parliament following the 2019 European Parliament election in Belgium. It was replaced by the Jambon Government on 2 October 2019.
Bart Claes is a Belgian politician who has been a member of the Flemish parliament for the Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang party since 2019.
