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Conner Rousseau

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Conner Rousseau
Leader of Vooruit
In office
8 November 2019 – 17 November 2023
Preceded byJohn Crombez
Succeeded byMelissa Depraetere
Incumbent
Assumed office
18 July 2024
Member of the Flemish Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
18 June 2019
Personal details
Born (1992-11-13) 13 November 1992 (age 31)
Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
CitizenshipBelgian
Political partyVooruit
Alma materGhent University
OccupationPolitician

Conner Rousseau (born 13 November 1992) is a Belgian politician and chairman of the social-democratic Flemish Vooruit party (formerly known as the sp.a). He became its chairman in November 2019 at the age of 26.[1]

Biography

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Rousseau was born in Sint-Niklaas and is the son of former sp.a politician and university professor Christel Geerts [nl] who was the mayor of Sint-Niklaas and John Rousseau, a former basketball player.[2][3] He studied law at Ghent University and then worked as an advisor to Flemish minister Freya Van den Bossche and then sp.a chairman John Crombez.[4]

During the 2019 Belgian regional elections, Rousseau was elected to the Flemish Parliament on the East Flanders list.[4][5] After his election, he announced his intention to run for leadership of the sp.a and succeeded Crombez in this role.[6] In 2020, he announced his intention to change the name of the party from Socialistische Partij Anders (Socialist Party Differently) to Vooruit meaning "Forward". The motion was approved by party members and came into effect in 2021.[7]

Rousseau caused some controversy when he was videoed dancing at a wedding party in July 2020, in Fréjus, France, without wearing a mask during the COVID-19 lockdown.[8] Further controversy ensued in December 2022, when in an April 2022 interview he told HUMO, "I don't feel at home in Molenbeek." He added that "my message was that we need to improve the conditions in these neighbourhoods by investing in language, childcare and education."[9]

In September 2023 Rousseau caused controversy about racist remarks he made about the Roma community while in discussion with police inspectors in Sint Niklaas. The police filed a report for racism and xenophobia. Later, he filed a petition in court for a publication ban regarding this matter.[10] He resigned as leader of Vooruit on November 17.

References

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  1. ^ "A 26 ans, Conner Rousseau est le nouveau président des socialistes flamands: que va-t-il changer?". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Wie is Conner "matekes" Rousseau (SP.A), de jongste partijvoorzitter ooit? | VRT NWS: nieuws". VRT (in Dutch). 8 November 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Conner Rousseau (SP.A): 'Het moet afgelopen zijn met onze hoererij met de macht' - België". Knack (in Dutch). 3 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Conner Rousseau (26) trekt Vlaamse lijst sp.a in Oost-Vlaanderen: "Nieuw socialisme op frisse manier brengen"". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 16 December 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Sp.a gaat verder achteruit - Oost-Vlaamse lijsttrekker Conner Rousseau: "Vernieuwing heeft tijd nodig"". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 26 May 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  6. ^ "Conner Rousseau wil SP.A-voorzitter worden: "Elektroshock nodig na 15 jaar verliezen"". VRT Nieuws [nl] (in Dutch). 19 September 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  7. ^ "SP.A heet voortaan officieel Vooruit, voorzitter Rousseau: "Breuk met oude politiek"". VRT Nieuws [nl] (in Dutch). 21 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Ophef over video van feestende SP.A-voorzitter Conner Rousseau: "Trouwfeest, volgens de geldende regels georganiseerd"". VRT Nieuws (in Dutch). 26 July 2020.
  9. ^ Taylor, Lukas (27 December 2022). "Vooruit leader doubles down on 'not feeling at home in Molenbeek' comments". The Brussels Times. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  10. ^ Van den Berghe, Caroline (2 October 2023). "Vooruit-voorzitter Conner Rousseau wordt donderdag verhoord over mogelijk racistische uitlatingen". vrt news headlines (in Dutch). Retrieved 3 October 2023.
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