Bart De Wever
| Bart De Wever | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Mayor of Antwerp | |
|
Assumed office 1 January 2013 |
|
| Preceded by | Patrick Janssens |
| Leader of the New Flemish Alliance | |
|
Assumed office 2004 |
|
| Preceded by | Geert Bourgeois |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Bart Albert Liliane De Wever 21 December 1970 Mortsel, Belgium |
| Political party |
People's Union (Before 2001) New Flemish Alliance (2001–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Veerle Hegge |
| Children | 4 |
| Residence | Deurne, Belgium |
| Alma mater | Catholic University of Leuven |
Bart Albert Liliane De Wever (Dutch: [ˈbɑrt də ˈʋeːvər]; born 21 December 1970) is a Belgian politician. Since 2004 he has been the president of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), a Belgian political party advocating independence for the Flemish region of Belgium within the European Union; he is also a member of the Flemish Parliament. He played a prominent role in the 2007 Belgian government formation and 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.
Since January 2013 he has been Mayor of Antwerp, following the 2012 municipal elections.
Born in Mortsel, De Wever attended the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), graduating with a licentiate (equivalent of the master's degree) in History. As a student he was a member of the Liberaal Vlaams Studentenverbond (LVSV, Liberal Flemish Students' Union), the Katholiek Vlaams Hoogstudentenverbond (KVHV, Catholic Flemish Students' Union) of Antwerp and Leuven. He is a former editor-in-chief of the KVHV newspapers Tegenstroom (magazine of KVHV in Antwerp) and Ons Leven (in Leuven).
He was employed as a research assistant working on the Nieuwe Encyclopedie van de Vlaamse Beweging (New Encyclopedia of the Flemish Movement). In 2004, he was elected as president of the N-VA with 95% of the votes. He was the only candidate that stood for the election.
De Wever went through a rough stretch in 2006 when he accepted the conservative-liberalJean-Marie Dedecker as an N-VA member, causing a split with the CD&V party. In order to reconcile the party, Dedecker had to leave. Although he was extensively criticised, the local N-VA leaders permitted De Wever to remain as N-VA president.
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