ELECTION DAY. N-VA loses one seat in Brasschaat and strengthens absolute majority (Brasschaat)

With all votes counted, we see that N-VA wins one seat and thus strengthens its absolute majority. Vlaams Belang goes from three to five seats. Striking: Jambon is the voting champion, but has seen its number of preferential votes reduced by almost three thousand from six years ago.

Jan Jambon (N-VA) is Brasschat mayor again. He won the battle with fellow party member Adinda Van Gerven. Jambon obtained 2,927 preferential votes, Van Gerven collected 2,598. N-VA’s coalition partner, Lokaal & Liberaal, disappears from the municipal council. It therefore looks like N-VA will form a coalition with CD&V, which will see its number of seats drop from six to five.

Vlaams Belang scored well: Dimitri Hoegaerts’ party goes from three to five seats. Brasschaat 2012 and PVDA, the two left-wing parties; remain status quo. The turnout in Brasschaat, like everywhere else in Flanders, was lower than usual.

This time Open VLD emerged under the name Lokaal & Liberaal. In this way the party wants to distance itself from national politics. List leader Myriam Van Honste is currently an alderman for, among other things, Spatial Planning. CD&V is lurking to join the board from the opposition. The party saw some leaders leave with Dirk and Niels de Kort and is now approaching the voters with the experienced Bart Brughmans.

The left-wing opposition party Brasschaat 2012, a cartel of Groen!, Vooruit and a series of independents, also saw some leaders leave. Steven Broos already passed on the torch during this legislature and Kasper Vanpoucke is leaving Brasschaat. Inge Hermans is now number one. Brasschaat 2012 now has four seats.

Vlaams Belang hoped to win some seats and has succeeded, with Dimitri Hoegaerts in one and Luc Sevenhans – who returns from N-VA – to push the list. PVDA remains, which in 2018 was only able to enter the municipal council in Brasschaat. Councilor Rob Eeman passed on the party leader position to the young Matthias Gulickx. Eeman pushes the list.

This article will be supplemented with analyzes and responses as soon as possible on election day, October 13.

The N-VA of figurehead Jan Jambon achieved the absolute majority in October 2018. However, the party felt it necessary to widen that narrow majority by including Open VLD. This gave the coalition 19 seats out of 33.

The party was truly everywhere this year. This also partly has to do with the duel that Jambon had to enter within his own party with Adinda Van Gerven, who was also competing for the sash.