It was a busy weekend for ALDE member parties, who elected three new leaders on Friday and Sunday. The new leaders are Frédéric De Gucht for Open VLD (BE), Nathalie Delattre for Parti Radical (FR) and Benjamin Mühlemann & Susanne Vincenz-Stauffacher for FDP/PLR (CH). 

In Belgium, De Gucht received 91% of votes to become the new leader of Open VLD. He assumes office immediately hoping to unblock the deadlock in forming the regional government of Brussels. 

De Gucht succeeds Eva De Bleeker and aims to get 10% of the vote for Open VLD at the next election, with half of those votes as new supporters. De Gucht hopes for a liberal revival, saying:

“We are no longer politically relevant; it is up to me to turn that around. Politics is a team sport. We have a long road ahead of us, and we’ll travel it together. Our freedoms are under attack. Authoritarian leaders, populists, demagogues. They’re pushing back against everything we stand for.” 

In France, Parti Radical’s Nathalie Delattre has served as interim President since Summer 2024. The former minister and senator is now their first ever female President, having won 65% of votes. 

She ran a campaign that strongly defended Parti Radical’s social-liberal identity, based on individual freedoms and collective responsibility. Her efforts were mainly focused on making Parti Radical a part of ideas that is more forward-looking for future generations. She remarked:

“Our attachment to the values and principles of secularism, freedom, solidarity and republican order, our local elected representatives, our freedom and our independence are more than ever assets to move our country forward.”

In Switzerland, ALDE member party FDP/PLR had a joint leadership ticket for the first time. Both Benjamin Mühlemann and Susanne Vincenz-Stauffacher placed security at the centre of their priorities, condemning the current violent extremism in Switzerland. 

Mühlemann noted:

“We want to take responsibility as a team. We will spread the message that hatred against the police and violence against law and order cannot be tolerated.”