Valerie Van Peel (born 11 October 1979 in

Kalmthout Kalmthout () is a municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the villages of Kalmthout, Achterbroek, Heide, and Nieuwmoer. In 2021, Kalmthout had a population of 19,020. The total area is . In addition to Kalmthou ...

) is a Belgian politician, journalist and television presenter who is a member of the Member of the Chamber of Representatives for the

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 ...

party.

Biography

Van Peel studied communication sciences at

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

followed by a master's degree in journalism. She then worked for ''

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on 1 ...

'' in Rotterdam and as a reporter and presenter for ''

Het Nieuwsblad ''Het Nieuwsblad'' (; en, The Newspaper) is a Flemish newspaper that mainly focusses on "a broad view" regarding politics, culture, economics, lifestyle, society and sports. History and profile In 1929, ''Het Nieuwsblad'' was published by ...

'' and ''Actua TV.'' In the municipal elections of 2012, she was elected as councilor for the N-VA in Kapellen before resigning in 2019 to focus on her parliamentary functions. In the

2014 Belgian federal election Federal elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium), Chamber of Representatives were elected, whereas the Senate (Belgium), Senate was no longer directly elected following the sixth ...

, she was elected to the Member of the Chamber of Representatives for the Antwerp constituency. In 2021, she was appointed vice-chairwoman of the N-VA. Van Peel is a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

but has written in support of scrapping positive discrimination in politics.

References

1979 births Living people Members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Belgian journalists New Flemish Alliance politicians Ghent University alumni 21st-century Belgian politicians 21st-century Belgian women politicians Belgian feminists {{Flanders-politician-stub