Wilfried Vandaele

Wilfried Vandaele (born 5 June 1959 in Bruges) is a Belgian politician and is affiliated to the N-VA. He has been a member of the Flemish Parliament since 2009 and has served as its speaker between 13 July and 2 October 2019. He is also the current mayor of his home town De Haan.

Wilfried Vandaele
Speaker of the Flemish Parliament
In office 13 July 2019 – 2 October 2019
Preceded by	Kris Van Dijck
Succeeded by	Liesbeth Homans
Member of the Flemish Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 June 2009
Senator for the Flemish community
In office 10 January 2013 – 31 December 2018
Personal details
Born	(1959-06-05) 5 June 1959 (age 66) Bruges, West Flanders
Nationality	Belgian
Political party	N-VA
Residence	De Haan
Website	http://www.n-va.be/cv/wilfried-vandaele

Career

Vandaele was elected as a member of the Flemish Parliament in 2009.^[1] In January 2013 he succeeded party leader Bart De Wever as a senator for the Flemish community. As a senator he was a member of the committees for home affairs and administrative affairs.^[2] Since 2015 he is an alternate member of the European Alliance Group at the European Committee of the Regions.^[3] From 13 July 2019 he was Speaker of the Flemish Parliament until his replacement by Liesbeth Homans on 2 October 2019. He subsequently became the leader of the N-VA parliamentary group, succeeding Matthias Diependaele who was appointed as a minister in the new Jambon government.^[4]

Vandaele has been a member of the city council of De Haan since 1 January 1989. He served as alderman (January 1, 2007 – December 31, 2012) and has been the mayor of the town since 1 January 2019.^[5] Upon becoming mayor, he resigned from his position as senator, as is legally required.^[6]