If there's a cost of living crisis at the moment, Belgium's political parties aren't exactly feeling the pinch, as figures released today show that party coffers are fuller than ever.
With local, national, and European elections all taking place next year, the country's political entities are shoring up reserves for a prolonged season of campaigning as Belgians troop back and forth to ballot boxes (voting is compulsory here).
The latest statistics reveal that at the end of 2022, political parties collectively had €165 million, which is €8 million more than last year and €21 million more than 2020. And though it is true that Belgium has more parliamentary colours than other nations – see here for the serious contenders – don't assume that the capital is divided equally.
In fact, the nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) has nearly twice the funds at its disposal as the second-placed Parti Socialiste (PS), with €34.1 million and €18.8 million respectively. Not surprisingly, these are Belgium's biggest parties, with N-VA presiding over the Flemish government and PS the most represented in Brussels and Wallonia parliaments.
As to how a party can amass such a fortune, besides donations from supporters the Belgian State provides relatively generous subsidies – a total of €78 million last year and for most organisations, accounting for between 70 and 90% of their revenue.
But aside from where the money comes from, how it is spent is the burning question as campaigns adapt to become more coercive – often less obvious to be all the more effective. Anyone up to date with the latest methods of public persuasion will probably have guessed that online advertising is central to this – with voters targeted with personalised messages that play to their interests (collected through their browser history).
And when it comes to online influence, Belgium's Flemish nationalist parties are especially adept, as well as being the biggest spenders in Europe for this kind of advertising. Their efforts have arguably paid off, with both N-VA and more hardline Vlaams Belang already seeing big gains in voting – trends that if continued could next year entirely overturn Belgium's established coalitions.
Looking forward to the elections? Let @Orlando_tbt know.
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