ALDE elects Guy Verhofstadt as Group leader
The ALDE Group, meeting today in Brussels, has just elected Guy Verhofstadt as leader of the Group. Mr Verhofstadt, who was prime minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008, was elected unopposed, despite indications that Diana Wallis, the leader of the UK’s Liberal Demorats in the European Parliament, was also standing for the post. (It is thought that Mrs Wallis will now retain her position as one of the vice-presidents of the Parliament.)
Mr Verhofstadt succeeds Graham Watson as leader of the Parliament’s third-largest Group. Mr Watson is bidding to become President of the European Parliament for one of the two halves of this legislature. Meanwhile Mr Verhofstadt is considered as a potential candidate to be President of the European Commission should José Manuel Barroso fail to obtain the approval of the European Parliament.