The elections of June 9, 2024 are rapidly approaching and more and more parties are announcing their party leaders. Discover here which names are already known for the various lists and parties.
As in 2014 and 2019, concurrent elections will again be organized in Belgium in June next year for a total of six parliaments. Flemish people may cast their votes for the federal Chamber (150 members), the Flemish Parliament (124 members) and the European Parliament (22 Belgian members, of which 13 are Dutch-speaking).
For the residents of Brussels there will be the Brussels Parliament, for the Walloons the Walloon Parliament, and the residents of the German-speaking Community can also choose their own parliament.
To fill all those election lists, hundreds of candidates must be appointed across the parties, a process that is still in full swing for most parties. Many party leaders are already known. We list them for you below, broken down by province.
Antwerp
As the province and constituency with the highest population, Antwerp is entitled to the highest number of members for both the Chamber and the Flemish Parliament. 24 Antwerp residents may sit in the Chamber, and even 33 in the Flemish Parliament.
It is also in this province that a whole series of major leaders will be played out. For example, Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) will face off in Parliament against, among others, the new Minister of Justice Paul Van Tigchelt (Open Vld), while Vlaams Belang surprises here with Lode Vereeck (ex-Open Vld and ex-Lijst Dedecker ), who currently heads the party’s research department and is moving from Diepenbeek to Kalmthout.
A number of top names have also already been announced for the Flemish Parliament, including two party chairmen. The new Open Vld chairman Tom Ongena himself draws the liberal list, after an eventful debate within the party. Chairman Tom Van Grieken himself will also enter the arena at Vlaams Belang. Flemish Member of Parliament Tinne Rombouts draws the list for CD&V.
East Flanders
As the second largest province, East Flanders is entitled to 20 parliamentary seats, as well as 27 Flemish seats.
It is in this province that Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) will have to save the liberal furniture as the absolute figurehead and leader of the federal list. De Croo achieved almost 18 percent here in 2019, good for four seats.
Cd&v plays against the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance Vincent Van Peteghem – in the words of the party, “the only real reformer in the country”. Vlaams Belang, the second largest in 2019, is once again going to the polls with parliamentary faction leader Barbara Pas. The far-left PVDA hopes to win another East Flemish seat, and perhaps even two, with 38-year-old parliamentary assistant Robin Tonniau.
For the time being, only two party leaders are known on the Flemish list. CD&V is State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Nicole de Moor, who would therefore move from the federal level to the Flemish level. Vlaams Belang is also playing Ninoof’s politician Guy D’haeseleer here, just like in 2019.
West Flanders
West Flanders – good for 16 parliamentary seats and 21 seats in the Flemish Parliament – is the only province where the N-VA leaders are already known. After weeks of hesitation, Jean-Marie Dedecker decided at the end of September not to restart his own LDD, but to commit himself to N-VA again. While he pushed the N-VA parliamentary list in 2019 as an independent, Dedecker will do the same in 2024 but as party leader.
Dedecker will compete in West Flanders against MP Nathalie Muylle for CD&V, Wouter Vermeersch for Vlaams Belang and parliamentary faction leader Melissa Depraetere for Vooruit. The other party leaders are not yet known.
With the arrival of Dedecker, MP Sander Loones moves for N-VA to the Flemish level. Flemish minister Hilde Crevits is again on the list for CD&V, just like in 2019 when she led the party to first place in the coastal province. Vlaams Belang puts MP Immanuel De Reuse in the lead, ahead of Bruges councilor Pablo Annys.
Flemish Brabant
In Flemish Brabant, 15 MPs and 15 members of the Flemish Parliament are up for election.
The House is mainly looking forward to Frank Vandenbroucke, who was brought back to politics by Chairman Conner Rousseau in 2019, to the surprise of friend and enemy. According to Vandenbroucke, his work as Minister of Social Affairs and Health is not finished, and he therefore wants to “ask for a mandate to continue our policy”.
Vandenbroucke currently faces CD&V chairman Sammy Mahdi in his home province and the 24-year-old Leuven historian and history teacher Britt Huybrechts for Vlaams Belang.
On the Flemish list, Flemish Member of Parliament Peter Van Rompuy leads the CD&V troops, opposite fellow MP Klaas Slootmans for Vlaams Belang and Line De Witte for PVDA.
Limburg
As the smallest Flemish province, Limburg may delegate 12 federal representatives and 16 Flemish ones.
In the House, Genk MP Nawal Farih moves up to first place due to the departure of Wouter Beke. Among the liberals, Flemish Member of Parliament Steven Coenegrachts from Bilzen is moving to the federal level, and his fellow city member Annick Ponthier will again become party leader for Vlaams Belang.
At the Flemish level, there are two ministers at the top of the lists for both CD&V and Open Vld: Minister of Agriculture Jo Brouns for the Christian Democrats and Minister of Mobility Lydia Peeters for the Liberals. Party leader Chris Janssens remains a permanent fixture at Vlaams Belang, just like in 2019.
Brussel
Finally, Dutch-speaking Brussels residents may cast three votes, in addition to voting for the Chamber and the Flemish Parliament, they also vote for 17 of the 89 members of the Brussels Parliament.
Brussels has 16 federal representatives in the House, the vast majority of them French speakers. Because the chance of being elected on a separate Dutch-language list is small, more and more Flemish parties are no longer appearing on their own.
For example, as in 2019, Green forms a joint list together with Ecolo. In the previous elections, for example, Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten was easily elected from third place. Ex-minister Zakia Khattabi draws the joint list. PVDA also certainly forms a joint, bilingual list with the PTB.
Brussels residents are entitled to 6 seats in front of the Flemish Parliament. Just like in 2019, Bianca Debaets leads the list for CD&V. For Vooruit, this is faction leader Hannelore Goeman, and Open Vld puts newcomer Chloë van Hoegaerden forward.
Also on the list for the Brussels Parliament for the time being mainly well-known names: Minister of Media Benjamin Dalle for CD&V, Brussels Minister of Finance Sven Gatz for Open Vld and Brussels State Secretary Ans Persoons for Vooruit.
Europa
Belgium may send one additional European Parliament member to Brussels and Strasbourg from 2024. Due to the redistribution as a result of the loss of British MEPs after Brexit, our country will receive 22 seats. The total number of seats, on the other hand, drops from 751 in the previous elections to 720.
The 22 Belgian seats are divided into three electoral colleges: 13 for the Dutch electoral college (1 extra compared to 2019), 8 for the French electoral college and 1 for the German-speaking electoral college. Residents of Brussels and the six facilities municipalities in the outskirts can choose whether they vote for the Dutch or the French electoral college.
Also new in 2024 is that for the first time, young people aged 16 and over will be allowed to vote in the European elections. They have the right to vote, while adults are still required to attend.
For the time being, only CD&V, Vlaams Belang and Open Vld have announced their European party leaders. Former Flemish minister Wouter Beke is moving to the European level among the Christian Democrats. He will therefore succeed Kris Peeters, who was party leader in 2019 but became Vice-President of the European Investment Bank in January 2021.
At Open Vld, there were no fewer than sixteen candidates for the coveted place and current parliamentarian Hilde Vautmans won. If the current polls prove true, the party leader may become the only liberal who will be elected. With 15.95 percent, Open Vld obtained two more elected officials in 2019, party leader Guy Verhofstadt and Vautmans, who was in second place at the time.
On the European list for Vlaams Belang, European Parliament member Tom Vandendriessche succeeds Gerolf Annemans as party leader. Annemans had previously indicated that he would not make the list, but he is still in the third – eligible – place.
