Editing Mechelen (section)

==Politics and government==
The city council consists of 43 councillors, elected every six years. The mayor is [[Bart Somers]] (Open Vld) since 2001. In October 2019 [[Alexander Vandersmissen]] became acting mayor because [[Bart Somers]] became minister in the Flemish government, he retains the title of mayor. The Vld-Groen-M+ ''[[Kartel (electoral alliance)|kartel]]'' got an absolute majority of seats in the [[Belgian local elections, 2018|October 2018 election]].

The 2019-2024 city council, elected in October 2018, consists of:
* [[Open Vld|Vld]]-[[Groen (political party)|Groen]]-M+: 25 seats
* [[N-VA]]: 7 seats
* [[Vlaams Belang]]: 4 seats
* [[CD&V]]: 3 seats
* [[sp.a]]: 3 seats
* [[Workers' Party of Belgium|PVDA]]: 1 seat