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- Mayor, City of Ghent
- Following his studies Latin-Modern Languages at the Royal Lyceum in Ghent, De Clercq studied Law at the Ghent University. After obtaining his master’s degree, he obtained a Master after Master European and International Law at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. During his studies, he was already active in the Liberal Flemish Student Association Ghent as committee member, political secretary and chairman. Since 2002, he is a core member of the liberal think tank Liberales.
Until 2008, Mathias De Clercq was working as apprentice-lawyer at the Bar of Ghent. At the municipal elections of 2006, he became Deputy Mayor of Economy, Youth, Work and the Self-Employed. In December 2007, he took the oath in the Chamber of Representatives. Since September 2009, he was Senior Deputy Mayor of the City of Ghent and Deputy Mayor of Economy, Youth and the Self-Employed. Following the municipal elections of 2012, Mathias De Clercq maintained Senior Deputy Mayor and was given the competences of the Port, Economy and Enterprise. From 2014 until the beginning of 2019 he was a representative in the Flemish parliament. In January 2019 Mathias De Clercq became Mayor of the City of Ghent. He was elected President of Eurocities in June 2025.
