Jacques Simonet

Who was Jacques Simonet?

Jacques Simonet was a Belgian politician and a former Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region.

He is the son of Henri Simonet, former Socialist Party minister and for many years mayor of Anderlecht. His mother Marie-Louise Angenet taught at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

He was born in Watermael-Boitsfort, Belgium. He studied law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. He married Véronica Labe, a notary, in 1988; they had two children. He entered politics as a student activist in the Fédération des étudiants libéraux, a right-wing party and later became a member of the Reformist Movement.

Simonet served as mayor of Anderlecht from 2000 until his death and as Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region from 15 July 1999 to 18 October 2000. He served as state secretary for European Affairs of Belgium from 12 July 2003 until 12 February 2004 when he became Minister-President of Brussels for the second time on the resignation of Daniel Ducarme following revelations of Ducarme's unpaid taxes in the newspaper Vers L'Avenir.