Mayor of the City of Brussels (Belgium)

Philippe Close was born on March 18, 1971. With a law degree from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Philippe began his career as a parliamentary assistant in charge of institutional matters for Senator Roger Lallemand, best known as the father of the law decriminalizing abortion.

In 1999, he was hired by Elio Di Rupo at the Emile Vandervelde Institute, the Socialist Party's research center. In 2000, he became Elio Di Rupo's spokesman, and in 2001, he joined the team of Freddy Thielemans, Mayor of the City of Brussels, as Cabinet Director.

In 2006, Philippe took part in local elections for the first time and was elected. He became Alderman in charge of Personnel and Tourism. Since the 2012 elections, he has also been in charge of Finance.

In 2009, Philippe was elected to the Brussels-Capital Region Parliament, where he chairs the Social Affairs Committee. In 2013, he was appointed PS group leader.

In June 2017, he became Mayor of the City of Brussels, and to devote himself entirely to his mission, he resigned from his position as MP and group leader in the Brussels Parliament. At the end of the legislature, he was re-elected on October 14, 2018 as Bourgmestre for the next 6 years.

In his private life, Philippe is passionate about metal and rugby, and is the father of two children.