Profile of the leaders of Parliament's political groups

Guy Verhofstadt was born in 1953 in Dendermonde, Flanders, Belgium.

In the early 70’s, he was active in the Flemish Liberal Student's Union while studying law in Ghent.

In 1982, at the young age of 29, he became president of the Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV). In 1985 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, and became Deputy Prime Minister and Budget Minister.

Due to his initially very liberal stance in economic matters and his young age he was nicknamed "The Kid" and "Baby Thatcher".

He became Prime Minister in July 1999. After his premiership he took up the seat of Senator to which he had been elected in 2007. In June 2009 he was elected to the EP for the first time.