Bert Anciaux

{{Short description|Belgian politician}} {{BLP sources|date=July 2010}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Bert Anciaux | image = {{#statements:P18}} | office = [[Flemish Government|Flemish Minister]] for Housing and Urban policy | term_start = 1999 | term_end = 2000 | predecessor = [[Leo Peeters]] | successor = [[Johan Sauwens]] | office1 = [[Flemish Government|Flemish Minister]] for relations with [[Brussels Capital Region|Brussels]] | term_start1 = 1999 | term_end1 = 2002 | predecessor1 = Brigitte Grouwels | successor1 = [[Guy Vanhengel]] | term_start2 = 2004 | term_end2 = 2009 | predecessor2 = {{Ill|Adelheid Byttebier|nl}} | successor2 = [[Pascal Smet]] | office3 = [[Flemish Government|Flemish Minister]] for Culture and Youth | term_start3 = 1999 | term_end3 = 2002 | predecessor3 = {{Ill|Luc Martens|nl}} | successor3 = Paul Van Grembergen | term_start4 = 2004 | term_end4 = 2009 | predecessor4 = Paul Van Grembergen | successor4 = [[Joke Schauvliege]] | office5 = [[Flemish Government|Flemish Minister]] for Sport | term_start5 = 2001 | term_end5 = 2002 | predecessor5 = Luc Martens | successor5 = [[Guy Vanhengel]] | term_start6 = 2004 | term_end6 = 2009 | predecessor6 = [[Marino Keulen]] | successor6 = [[Philippe Muyters]] | office7 = [[Minister of Mobility (Belgium)|Minister of Mobility]] and Economical Affairs | term_start7 = 2003 | term_end7 = 2004 | prime_minister7 = [[Guy Verhofstadt]] | predecessor7 = [[Laurette Onkelinx]] (Mobility) [[Fientje Moerman]] (Economical Affairs) | successor7 = [[Renaat Landuyt]] (Mobility) [[Marc Verwilghen]] (Economical Affairs) | party = [[Volksunie]] (until 2001) [[Spirit (Belgium)|Spirit]] (2001–2008) [[Forward (Belgium)|Vooruit]] (since 2008) | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1959|9|11}} | birth_place = [[Merksem]], [[Belgium]] | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = [[Vrije Universiteit Brussel|Free University of Brussels, dutch]] }} '''Bert Jozef Herman Vic Anciaux''' (born 11 September 1959) is a [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[politician]] and [[Forward (Belgium)|Vooruit]] faction leader in the [[Senate of Belgium|Belgian Senate]]. He was one of the founders of [[Spirit (Belgium)|Spirit]] (later known as the Flemish Progressives, then the [[Social Liberal Party (Belgium)|Social Liberal Party]], or SLP). Served as Minister for Culture, Youth and Sport in the [[Flemish Parliament|Flemish Government]] from 2004 until 2009, he was also Minister for relations with the [[Brussels-Capital Region]] and the [[Brussels Parliament]] ({{langx|nl|Minister voor Brusselse Aangelegenheden}}).

==Political career==

===Volksunie (1987–1998)=== Anciaux was born into a political family. His father [[Vic Anciaux]] was chairman of the [[People's Union (Belgium)|Volksunie (VU)]], a [[nationalist]] party, from 1979 until 1985. Bert first held office as a councilman in the [[City of Brussels]] in 1987, and in 1991, became a member of the provincial council of [[Flemish Brabant]]. He became chairman of the Volksunie in 1992, serving until 1998. From 1995 to 1999, he sat in the [[Belgian Senate]].

===Volksunie-iD21 (1998–2001)=== Following the 1998 [[White March]]es provoked by the publication of official reports on the [[Affaire Dutroux]], Anciaux founded the [[think-tank]], later political group, {{Ill|iD21|nl}}, which aimed to confront the corruption and incompetence which the Dutroux affair had brought to light. In the 1999 [[1999 Belgian general election|Belgian general election]], the combined Volksunie-iD21 list gained 8% of the vote, up from around 5% in [[1995 Belgian general election|1995]]. Anciaux was elected to the [[European Parliament]].

===Spirit / Flemish Progressives (2001–2009)=== With the collapse of the Volksunie in 2001, split between left and right factions led by Anciaux and [[Geert Bourgeois]] which became Spirit and [[New-Flemish Alliance]] (NV-A) respectively. A number of iD21 members joined [[Green!|Agalev]], the Flemish [[green politics|green]] party, rather than Spirit.

In 2002, Anciaux stepped down as Minister for Culture in the Flemish government. Following the [[2003 Belgian general election|2003 Federal election]], where Anciaux and Spirit ran in a cartel with [[Socialist Party Different]] (SP.a), he was appointed Federal transport minister. In July 2004, he resigned this post and returned to his present position as Minister for Culture, Youth and Sport in Flanders.

===Vooruit (2009–present)=== In 2008, he left his party and has expressed the desire to launch a new "Social Project". He then joined the Flemish social-democratic party Vooruit, then called Sp.a. In 2010, he was elected to the Belgian Senate and took over the position of faction leader of Vooruit in 2012, when [[Marleen Temmerman]] resigned from politics.

==Honours == * {{Flag|Belgium}} : Commander of the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]] (6 June 2009)<ref>Belgian Senate, [http://www.senat.be/www/?MIval=/showSenator&ID=3941&LANG=fr Biography]</ref> * {{Flag|Netherlands}} : Knight Grand Cross in the [[Order of Orange-Nassau]].

==Notes== <references/>

==External links== {{Commons category-inline}} * {{official website|http://www.bertanciaux.be/ }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anciaux, Bert}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1959 births]] [[Category:Flemish activists]] [[Category:Sociaal-Liberale Partij politicians]] [[Category:People's Union (Belgium) politicians]] [[Category:Vrije Universiteit Brussel alumni]] [[Category:People from Merksem]] [[Category:21st-century Belgian politicians]] [[Category:Belgian senators of the 57th legislature]] [[Category:Belgian senators of the 56th legislature]] [[Category:Belgian bloggers]]