Nelly Maes (born 25 February 1941) is a Belgian

social liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

politician from the Flanders region. She began her professional career as a teacher. Her professional political career started in 1971 when, on behalf of

Hugo Schiltz Hugo Schiltz (27 October 1927 – 5 August 2006) was a Belgian lawyer and politician. He was Belgian MP from 1965 to 1988 and senator from 1992 to 1995. He was also twice minister, from 1981 to 1985 in the first Flemish Government and between 1 ...

, she was stood candidate and was elected for the

Volksunie People's Union ( nl, Volksunie, VU) was a Flemish nationalist political party in Belgium, formed in 1954 as a successor to the Christian Flemish People's Union. The Volksunie defined itself as a big tent and catch-all party that combined suppor ...

into the Belgian Chamber of People's Representatives, where she seated until 1977, becoming an elected

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in the next year, 1978, until 1981. Upon being elected as vice-president of the party, she left parliamentary work, as the Volksunie went through rough seas internally, when separists and regionalists, leftists and conservatives, could't find a way to solve the problems concerning the whereabouts of the party which saw its political aims come true when the Belgian state deeply reformed itself from a unitarian state into a federation. In 1985, she returned to her seat in the Belgian Chamber of People's Representatives, leaving there in 1991, again to continue in the Belgian Senate. But in 1995, she changed places and became a member of the newly formed

Flemish Parliament The Flemish Parliament (Dutch: , formerly called Flemish Council or ''Vlaamse Raad'') constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural communi ...

until 1998, when elected into the European Parliament for the European Free Alliance. In 2001, the Volksunie split, after which Maes, who was very much against the split, joined Spirit. Alliancepartner

Sp.a Vooruit (Dutch for Forward, ) is a Flemish social democratic political party in Belgium. The party was known as the Flemish Socialist Party (1978–2001: ''Socialistische Partij'', SP; 2001–2021: ''Socialistische Partij Anders'', SP.A) until 2 ...

put their own five favourable candidates on the highest places on the mutual election list for the European elections in 2004, Maes being sixth. Only five members were elected, so Maes is without a parlementary seat nowadays. However, she was appointed as the president of the European Free Alliance, and as president of the , an organisation closely related to the Flemish Parliament. Maes always stood firm for regional culturalism, regional languages, the environment, and women's liberation, the source of being called "Red Nelly".Nelly's personal political website (in Dutch)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maes, Nelly 1941 births Living people Sociaal-Liberale Partij politicians European Free Alliance Flemish politicians Groen (political party) politicians Groen (political party) MEPs MEPs for Belgium 1994–1999 MEPs for Belgium 1999–2004 20th-century women MEPs for Belgium 21st-century women MEPs for Belgium People's Union (Belgium) politicians