Bruno Tobback (born 22 August 1969) was the president of the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

socialist party Different Socialist Party (SP.A) from 2011 to 2015. He was Minister of Environment and Pensions in the

Belgian federal government The Federal Government of Belgium ( nl, Federale regering, french: Gouvernement fédéral, german: Föderalregierung) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state ("junior", or deputy-min ...

from 2004 until 2007. He is the son of former minister and former mayor of

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

Louis Tobback Louis Marie Joseph Tobback (born 3 May 1938) is a Belgian politician. Tobback is a Flemish social democrat and member of the political party SP.A. He was the mayor of Leuven (1995–2018) He graduated in Romance philology at the Vrije Univers ...

. He is a Licentiate in Law (

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) () is a Dutch and English-speaking research university located in Brussels, Belgium.The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is one of the five universities officially recognised by the Flemish Community, Flemish gov ...

, 1992) and a Licentiate in Social and Economic Law (

UGent 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 ...

, 1994). He was a member of the

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 ...

from 1995 to 2004. Bruno Tobback wishes to ban old-fashioned

incandescent light bulb An incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a glass bulb with a vacuum or inert gas to protect the filament from oxida ...

s, and thinks the ban on incandescent light bulbs should be included in the list of measures under the

Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto Protocol was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that (part ...

. He has a master's degree in Law (VUB, 1992) and a master's degree Social and Economic Law. He was the leader of the SP.a group in the Flemish Parliament. He was responsible for environment, conservation of nature and mobility. On 18 September 2008, he was badly injured after a fall during mountain climbing in Austria, after which he was taken to hospital with several cracks in the skull and multiple fractures. His girlfriend Vicky Willems managed to encounter his fall, as they were linked to each other with a cord. On 2 July 2009, he followed

Peter Vanvelthoven Peter Karel Alexander Vanvelthoven (born 22 October 1962) is a Belgian politician and member of the SP.A. He is the son of politician . He became the Federal Minister for Employment, charged with the Informatisation of the State, in 2005 after ...

, who was the new leader of the sp.a group in the Flemish Parliament, as the group leader of sp.a in the federal Chamber of Representatives. 2011, he was a candidate to succeed

Caroline Gennez Caroline Gennez (; 21 August 1975) is a Belgian socialist politician who has been serving as the Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy in the De Croo Government since December 2022. She is a former chairwoman of the Socialist Par ...

as the president of sp.a. Being the only candidate, he was elected on 18 September 2011 in Nieuwpoort at a congress, with 96.6% of all votes. In the June 2015 leadership election, following the party's poor results in the 2014 general elections, he was defeated by

John Crombez John Crombez (born 19 September 1973) is a Belgian politician. He has been leader of the Socialist Party Differently (sp.a) since 2015. In the Di Rupo Government (2011–2014) he was Secretary of State for combatting fraud. In 2009, Crombez wa ...

Honours

* Grand Officer Order of Leopoldarrêtés royaux du 21 mai 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobback, Bruno 1969 births Living people Flemish politicians Socialistische Partij Anders politicians Members of the Belgian Federal Parliament Vrije Universiteit Brussel alumni Ghent University alumni 21st-century Belgian politicians