Sophie Wilmès

Sophie Wilmès
Official portrait, 2024
Vice-President of the European Parliament
Assumed office
16 July 2024
PresidentRoberta Metsola
Prime Minister of Belgium
In office
27 October 2019  1 October 2020
MonarchPhilippe
DeputyKoen Geens
Alexander De Croo
Didier Reynders (2019)
David Clarinval
Preceded byCharles Michel
Succeeded byAlexander De Croo
Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
1 October 2020  15 July 2022
Prime MinisterAlexander De Croo
Preceded byPhilippe Goffin (Foreign)
David Clarinval (Deputy)
Succeeded byHadja Lahbib (Foreign)
David Clarinval (Deputy)
Minister of Budget
In office
22 September 2015  27 October 2019
Prime MinisterCharles Michel
Preceded byHervé Jamar
Succeeded byDavid Clarinval
Member of the European Parliament for
Belgium
Assumed office
16 July 2024
ConstituencyFrench-speaking electoral college
Member of the Chamber of Representatives
In office
15 July 2022  9 June 2024
In office
25 May 2014  22 September 2015
Personal details
Born (1975-01-15) 15 January 1975
Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium
Political partyReformist Movement
Spouse
(m. 2002; died 2023)
Children3
ParentPhilippe Wilmès (father)
Alma materSaint-Louis University, Brussels
IHECS
Signature

Sophie Wilmès (French pronunciation: [sɔfi wilmɛs]; born 15 January 1975) is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2019 to 2020. She later served as minister of foreign affairs from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Reformist Movement, she is the first woman to hold either position.

Wilmès was elected to the Chamber of Representatives in 2014, and served as budget minister in the first and second governments of Charles Michel from 2015 to 2019. In the aftermath of the 2019 Belgian federal election, Philippe of Belgium appointed Wilmès to lead a caretaker government (the Wilmès I Government) before she formed an executive government (the Wilmès II Government) in March 2020 to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.

In October 2020, she joined the government of Prime Minister Alexander De Croo as foreign minister and deputy prime minister. She resigned in 2022 to take care of her husband who suffered from brain cancer.

In June 2024, she was elected Member of the European Parliament, of which she is currently one of the Vice-Presidents.