Guido De Padt (born 23 May 1954) 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 and Senator for the

Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats french: Libéraux et démocrates flamands ouverts , abbreviation = Open Vld , logo = , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = Egbert Lachaert , foundation = 1992 (VLD)2007 (Open Vld) , predecessor = P ...

. Since December 2011, he also is the mayor of

Geraardsbergen Geraardsbergen (; french: Grammont, ) is a city and municipality located in the Denderstreek and in the Flemish Ardennes, the hilly southern part of the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Geraardsbergen prop ...

, an office he also held from 2001 until 2006. He started his national career as member of the Chamber of Representatives. From December 2008 to July 2009, he was

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in the Van Rompuy I Government. In the

Leterme II Government The Leterme II Government was the federal government of Belgium from 25 November 2009 to 26 April 2010, and the caretaker government until 6 December 2011. It took office when the Flemish Christian Democrat Yves Leterme (CD&V) was sworn in as Pr ...

, he was appointed government commissioner for the internal audit of the federal government. In 2011, he replaced the socialist as mayor of Geraardsbergen. He got national media attention as strong defender to keep the

Muur van Geraardsbergen The Muur van Geraardsbergen (English: ''Wall of Geraardsbergen/Grammont'', French: ''Mur de Grammont'') is a steep, narrow road with cobblestones in Geraardsbergen, Belgium. It is also known as Kapelmuur, Muur-Kapelmuur or simply Muur. The hil ...

in the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and orga ...

. His party won the 2012 local elections in Geraardsbergen with 36% of the votes, while he got 25.8% of the preference votes. In contrast with other liberal leaders in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

, his popularity had grown.

References

External links

* , - , - 1954 births Government ministers of Belgium Living people Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten politicians People from Geraardsbergen 21st-century Belgian politicians {{Belgium-mayor-stub