Bert Jozef Herman Vic Anciaux (born 11 September 1959) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

Vooruit Vooruit ( nl, Kunstencentrum Vooruit, ) is a historic complex in Ghent, Belgium. Vooruit was originally the festival and art center of the Ghent-based labor movement, with a ballroom, cinema, theater, etc. It is now mainly used for concerts a ...

faction leader in the

Belgian Senate The Senate ( nl, Senaat, ; french: Sénat, ; german: Senat) is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parli ...

. He was one of the founders of

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

(later known as the Flemish Progressives, then the Social Liberal Party, or SLP). Served as Minister for Culture, Youth and Sport in the

Flemish Government The Flemish Government ( nl, Vlaamse regering ) 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, a ...

from 2004 until 2009, he was also Minister for relations with the

Brussels-Capital Region Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and the

Brussels Parliament The Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (French: ''Parlement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale'', Dutch: ''Parlement van het Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gew ...

( nl, Minister voor Brusselse Aangelegenheden).

Political career

Volksunie (1987–1998)

Anciaux was born into a political family. His father was chairman of the Volksunie (VU), a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

party, from 1979 until 1985. Bert first held office as a councilman in the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels (french: Ville de Bruxelles or alternatively ''Bruxelles-Ville'' ; nl, Stad Brussel or ''Brussel-Stad'') is the largest municipality and historical City centre, centre of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, as well a ...

in 1987, and in 1991 became a member of the provincial council of

Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant ( nl, Vlaams-Brabant ; french: Brabant flamand ) is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Belgian provinces of Antwerp, Limburg, Liège, Walloon Brabant, Haina ...

. He became chairman of the Volksunie in 1992, serving until 1998. From 1995 to 1999 he sat in the

Volksunie-iD21 (1998–2001)

Following the 1998

White March The White March (french: Marche blanche; nl, Witte Mars; german: Weißer Marsch) was a demonstration in Brussels on 20 October 1996 after serial killer and criminal Marc Dutroux was arrested. The demonstrators wanted better protection for chi ...

es provoked by the publication of official reports on the Affaire Dutroux, Anciaux founded the

think-tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental ...

, later political group, iD21, which aimed to confront the corruption and incompetence which the Dutroux affair had brought to light. In the 1999 Belgian general election, the combined Volksunie-iD21 list gained 8% of the vote, up from around 5% in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. Anciaux was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Spirit / Flemish Progressives (2001–2009)

With the collapse of the Volksunie in 2001, split between left and right factions led by Anciaux and

Geert Bourgeois Geert Albert Bourgeois (; born 6 July 1951) 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-Pr ...

which became Spirit and

New-Flemish Alliance The New Flemish Alliance ( nl, Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, N-VA) is a Flemish nationalist and conservative political party in Belgium. The party was founded in 2001 by the right-leaning fraction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union (VU). T ...

(NV-A) respectively. A number of iD21 members joined

Agalev Groen (English: Green; nl, Groen, ), founded as Agalev (see Name below), is a green Flemish political party in Belgium. Its French-speaking equivalent is Ecolo; the two parties maintain close relations with each other. Party history Before ...

, the Flemish

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

party, rather than Spirit. At this time, Anciaux acquired the nickname "The Whiner" as he broke out in tears every so often. In 2002 Anciaux stepped down as Minister for Culture in the Flemish government. Following the 2003 Federal election, where Anciaux and Spirit ran in a cartel with

Socialist Party Different Vooruit (Dutch language, Dutch for Forward, ) is a Flanders, Flemish Social democracy, social democratic list of political parties in Belgium, political party in Belgium. The party was known as the Flemish Socialist Party (1978–2001: ''Socialis ...

(SP.a), he was appointed Federal transport minister. In July 2004, he resigned this post and returned to his present position as Minister for Culture, Youth and Sport in Flanders.

Vooruit (2009–present)

In 2008 he left his party and has expressed the desire to launch a new "Social Project". He then joined the Flemish social-democratic party Vooruit, then called Sp.a. In 2010 he was elected to the Belgian Senate and took over the position of faction leader of Vooruit in 2012, when

Marleen Temmerman Marleen Temmerman (born 24 March 1953 in Lokeren, Belgium) is a Belgian gynaecologist, professor and former Senator, currently heading the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health at Aga Khan University in Nairobi, Kenya. Biography T ...

resigned from politics.

Honours

* : Commander of the Order of Leopold (6 June 2009) Belgian Senate
Biography
/ref> * : Knight Grand Cross in the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anciaux, Bert Living people 1959 births Flemish activists Sociaal-Liberale Partij politicians People's Union (Belgium) politicians Vrije Universiteit Brussel alumni People from Merksem 21st-century Belgian politicians Belgian senators of the 57th legislature Belgian senators of the 56th legislature Belgian bloggers