Nadia Sminate
{{Short description|Belgian politician (born 1981)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Nadia Sminate
|office = Member of the Chamber of Representatives
|image = Nadia Sminate (recadrée).jpg
|term_start = 6 July 2010
|term_end =
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1981|12|29}}
|birth_place = Bonheiden, Antwerp
|nationality = Moroccan Belgian
|party = N-VA
|residence = Londerzeel
|website = [http://www.n-va.be/cv/nadia-sminate http://www.n-va.be/cv/nadia-sminate]
}}
Nadia Sminate (born 29 December 1981 in Bonheiden) is a Belgian politician and is affiliated to the N-VA. She was elected as a member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives in 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/showpage.cfm?section=/depute&language=nl&rightmenu=right_depute&cfm=cvview53.cfm?key=06229&lactivity=53 |title=Chamber of Representatives: cv Nadia Sminate |language=Dutch |publisher=Dekamer.be |date=1981-12-29 |accessdate=2014-04-06}}
Early life
She was born to a Belgian{{cite web |title=Nadia Sminate eerste burgemeester van Marokkaanse afkomst |url=https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20151217_02025714 |publisher=De Standaard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312203052/https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20151217_02025714 |archive-date=12 March 2023}} (Flemish){{cite web |title="Ik voel mij een echte Vlaamse" |url=https://www.hln.be/londerzeel/ik-voel-mij-een-echte-vlaamse~aa8566e7/ |publisher=Het Laatste Nieuws}} mother and a Moroccan father. Sminate studied romance philology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, graduating in 2003. Afterwards she was an adult education teacher; first in Ganshoren and then in Meise-Jette.Het Nieuwsblad, [http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=RU2RHR5V 'Een sprong in het diepe'], 15 June 2010. She was then a lingerie model for a while and was elected Miss Handelsgids.Het Laatste Nieuws, [http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/959/Bizar/article/detail/1119371/2010/06/15/Pas-verkozen-Nadia-Sminate-N-VA-vroeger-lingeriemodel.dhtml 'Pas verkozen Nadia Sminate (N-VA) vroeger lingeriemodel'], 15 June 2010.
Political career
She became a member of the Flemish nationalist N-VA party, which she served in the Chamber of Representatives from 2007 to 2009. Thereafter she was promoted to staff member of Philippe Muyters, then Flemish Minister of Finance, Budget and Spatial Planning. De Standaard, [http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=TG3L6IKP 'Een minister is maar zo sterk als zijn cabinetards'], 21 January 2012.
In the Belgian federal elections of 2010, she was elected from second place on the electoral list for the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde as a Member of Parliament with 8,884 preferential votes.IBZ, [http://verkiezingen2010.belgium.be/nl/cha/preferred/preferred_CKC21004_25.html 'Uitslagen Federale verkiezingen 2010'].
In the municipal elections of 2012 she was the list leader for her party in Londerzeel.Gazet van Antwerpen, [http://www.gva.be/regio-mechelen/londerzeel/verkiezingen2012/nadia-sminate-trekt-n-va-lijst-2.aspx 'Nadia Sminate trekt N-VA-lijst'], 7 March 2012. The party came up independently for the first time and obtained 21.6% of the vote. This made the party the third largest in the municipality after CD&V (31.5%) and the local LWD party (26.3%). On behalf of her party, she concluded an administrative agreement with CD&V and sp.a-Groen.De Standaard, [http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20121020_00341825 'CD&V, N-VA en SP.A-Groen vormen meerderheid in Londerzeel'], 20 October 2012. At the beginning of 2014 she became Alderman of Finance, Budget and Personnel.
She was elected Flemish Member of Parliament in the 2014 Flemish elections. From the end of June 2014, she was part of the Bureau (daily board) of the Flemish Parliament as secretary. In January 2016, as agreed in the administrative agreement, she succeeded Jozef De Borger (CD&V) as Londerzeel's mayor.Brussel Nieuws, [http://www.brusselnieuws.be/artikel/londerzeel-krijgt-eerste-burgemeester-van-marokkaanse-komaf 'Londerzeel krijgt eerste burgemeester van Marokkaanse komaf'], 22 October 2012.Het Nieuwsblad, [http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF20121021_00342577 'Eerst De Borger, dan Sminate'], 22 October 2012. She was thus the first Flemish mayor with Moroccan roots.{{cite web |url=http://deredactie.be/permalink/1.2526035|title=Sminate wordt eerste Vlaamse burgemeester met Marokkaanse roots|publisher=deredactie.be}} In the 2018 elections, Sminate's party won a big victory with 35.4%, but the N-VA ended up in the opposition this time.Het Laatste Nieuws, [https://www.hln.be/de-krant/sminate-n-va-is-sjerp-kwijt-in-londerzeel-ondanks-forse-winst~a08ae444/ 'Nadia Sminate is sjerp kwijt in Londerzeel'], 16 October 2018.
She has also served as a state senator in the Senate since January 2019.Metrotime.be, [https://nl.metrotime.be/2019/01/11/news/zes-nieuwe-gezichten-en-drie-nieuwe-fractievoorzitters-in-de-senaat/ 'Zes nieuwe gezichten en drie nieuwe fractievoorzitters in de Senaat'], 11 January 2019. In the Flemish elections of 26 May 2019, she was re-elected as a Flemish Member of Parliament. Since mid-June 2019, she has been third vice-president of this assembly.
Notes
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Category:21st-century Belgian women politicians
Category:Belgian people of Moroccan descent
Category:Members of the 53rd Chamber of Representatives (Belgium)
Category:New Flemish Alliance politicians
Category:People from Bonheiden
Category:Vrije Universiteit Brussel alumni
Category:Women members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium)