Nothomb served on the Senate and several regional councils in French-speaking Belgium. Between 1968 and 1995 he sat on and off in the Chamber, of which he was also chairman for a while. During most of the 1970s he was party chairman of the Christian Democratic PSC, which is now known as Les Engagés.
In the 1980s, the guy was Minister of Foreign and Interior Affairs. In that second position, he refused to take political responsibility for the Heysel disaster of 1985, when 39 people died during the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus. Ultimately, the Martens V government will nevertheless proceed to early elections.
