Geert Bourgeois

Biography

Geert Bourgeois's father, Emiel Bourgeois, was born in Hulste on 10 October 1918, towards the end of the First World War. He went on to work as a primary school teacher. After the Second World War he was accused of collaboration and spent some time in prison. He was subsequently rehabilitated and appointed headmaster at the primary school where he had previously been teaching. He died in 1998. Emiel Bourgeois married Izegem-born Gaby Vens (1920–2015), with whom he had two sons and two daughters. Geert Bourgeois attended secondary school at Saint Joseph's College in Izegem before he went on to read law at Ghent University from 1970 to 1975. That same year, he married Betty Hoste with whom he set up a law firm. The couple have two sons. Bourgeois was politically engaged from an early age. During his time at secondary school, he became a member of the Catholic Student Action (Katholieke Studentenactie – KSA). In 1966, he set up, along with his brother Kris and his classmate Koen Baert, a Blue Banner group of Father Boucquillon. When the group later merged with the VNJ (Flemish Nationalist Youth League), he left the local chapter. He later became involved with the Flemish Nationalist Student Union (Vlaams-Nationale Studentenunie) and the Language Action Committee (Taal Aktie Komitee). At the age of 17, he became the secretary of the local Volksunie branch and the chairman of the Volksunie Youth Wing of Izegem.

Political career

Local politics

Bourgeois took part in the municipal council elections for the first time in 1976. He was elected into office with 997 preferential votes. As he still had to comply with his national service obligations, he was unable to take up his seat until 1977. In 1982, he was re-elected, with the Volksunie joining the city council. Bourgeois served as Alderman for Public Works, Town and Country Planning, Town Centre Regeneration, Trade, Small Business Owners & Industry and Legal Affairs. He has consistently been re-elected ever since. After the 1988 elections, he again became Alderman in the municipal council, an office he held until 1994. The 1994 elections put a different majority coalition in power in Izegem. He continued to sit as a member of the Izegem municipal council until 2018, and did not stand again in the municipal council elections held that same year. From 2013 until 2018, he chaired the Izegem municipal council.

National politics

From 1977 onwards, Geert Bourgeois ran in all national elections. He joined the national board of the Volksunie party, and from 1990 until 1993, served as chairman of the Association of Flemish (political) Office Holders. In 1996, he joined the Volksunie party leadership.

In the 1995 elections, he was elected as a member of the federal parliament. In the federal Chamber of Representatives, he primarily focused on legal affairs and matters concerning Belgium's different Communities. Even though he served as a member of the opposition, he managed to get several private member's bills of his adopted, such as the Protection of Sources Act, which means that reporters are now only required to reveal the identity of their sources in the event of an emergency. He gained nationwide acclaim for his activities as a member of the Dutroux Committee and the role he played in the Octopus negotiations. In 1999, Bourgeois became leader of the Volksunie political group in the Chamber of Representatives.

The following year he was elected general party chairman by the membership of what was then the Volksunie, which saw sitting party chairman Patrik Vankrunkelsven ousted. This election sparked a series of conflicts between the party chairman, who had been directly elected by the members, and the VU's party board, appointed by the party leadership. The differences in opinion came to a head at the time of the Lambermont Agreement. Bourgeois was not prepared to back this agreement, in spite of the fact that it had been approved by the Volksunie's party board. As such, he did not approve it, thus acting contrary to the relevant instructions of the competent bodies within the party. Headed up by then Minister Bert Anciaux, the party board got behind the agreement, in response to which Bourgeois stepped down as party chairman. Around this time, Geert Bourgeois put together the so-called "Oranjehofgroep" (which would go on to become the bedrock of the N-VA) along with people such as Frieda Brepoels, Eric Defoort, Ben Weyts and Bart De Wever. The Oranjehofgroup was a group of Flemish nationalist Volksunie members who opposed the direction in which the party was being taken by Anciaux. The group derived its name from a Ghent hospitality business where the members would meet. The antagonisms between Bourgeois' Flemish Nationalist wing which wanted the VU to pursue a conservative, independent Flemish Nationalist direction, and the wing helmed by Bert Anciaux, who was looking to merge the Volksunie with its progressive programme with another political party, eventually resulted in the break-up of the VU.

European Parliament

He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in the 2019 European Parliament election on 26 May 2019. On 2 July 2019, Bourgeois resigned as Flemish minister-president in order to assume his new mandate as an MEP. He was succeeded in this role by fellow party-member Liesbeth Homans, who became the first female minister-president of Flanders. Along with the other N-VA MEPs, he joined the ECR group in the European Parliament, despite tensions between the N-VA and the Spanish far-right party Vox over the Catalan independence movement.

Summary of participation in political elections

Flemish Parliament 13 June 1999 – 3rd successor electoral constituency of Kortrijk-Roeselare-Tielt – VU-ID

Senate 18 May 2003 – 1st place Dutch-speaking electoral college – N-VA – not elected

Chamber of Representatives 18 May 2003 – 1st place electoral constituency of West Flanders – N-VA – elected – serves until 13 June 2004

Flemish Parliament 13 June 2004 – 2nd place electoral constituency of West Flanders – CD&V-N-VA – elected – Flemish Minister

European Parliament 13 June 2004 – 14th place electoral constituency of Flanders – CD&V-N-VA – elected – decides not to take up his seat (He was replaced by Frieda Brepoels.)

Municipal Council 8 October 2006 – Izegem – 1st place – N-VA – elected

Chamber of Representatives 10 June 2007 – 16th place West Flanders – CD&V-N-VA – not elected

European Parliament 7 June 2009 – 12th place electoral constituency of Flanders – N-VA – not elected

Flemish Parliament 7 June 2009 – 1st place electoral constituency of West Flanders – N-VA – elected – Flemish Minister

Chamber of Representatives 13 June 2010 – 1st place electoral constituency of West Flanders – N-VA – elected (45,848 preferential votes) (On 2 July 2010 it was announced that he would briefly resign from the Government of Flanders in order to formally take the oath at the Chamber of Representatives. He subsequently immediately arranged to have himself replaced in the Chamber before being sworn in again as a Flemish Minister. In the Chamber, he was succeeded by Bert Maertens who obtained 8,083 preferential votes.).

Orders and decorations

2016: Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd Class, 2016.