of which the cartel with CD&V – of which Bourgeois has been one of the architects – was ended. Bourgeois subsequently resumed his seat as Member of the Flemish Parliament until June 2009. From the very outset, he went into opposition mode against the government he had just left. This was contrary to the tradition that former Ministers should remain absent for a while after they have stood down. In the Flemish elections of 7 June 2009, Geert Bourgeois was again directly elected in the electoral constituency of West Flanders. One month later, on 13 July 2009, Bourgeois was appointed Vice-Minister–President and Minister in the Peeters II Government. He was in charge of Public Governance, Local and Provincial Government, Civic Integration, Tourism and the Vlaamse Rand. By decision of the Government of Flanders of 24 July 2009, he was also assigned the competence 'Immovable Heritage'. He passed on his tenure as a Member of the Flemish Parliament to Wilfried Vandaele. In June 2010, he ran in the federal elections as the leading candidate for the province of West Flanders. He was elected as a Member of Parliament. However, in order to be sworn in as a Member of Parliament, he had to temporarily step down as a Flemish Minister. This occurred on 5 July 2010. Two days later, he was re-appointed Minister and resigned from the Chamber of Representatives. In the wake of the Flemish elections of 25 May 2014, he was sworn in as a Member of the Flemish Parliament at the inaugural meeting of the Flemish Parliament on 17 June 2014. On 25 July 2014, he was sworn in as the Minister-President of Flanders. His seat as a Member of the Flemish Parliament was taken by his successor Bert Maertens. On 2 December 2015, a formal tribute was paid to Geert Bourgeois in the Flemish Parliament's plenary assembly for having served 20 years as either a Member of Parliament or a Minister. Ahead of the 2019 Flemish regional elections, it was announced that Bourgeois would not be a candidate for a second term as Minister-President, and would instead lead the N-VA's list in the European parliamentary elections taking place on the same day. European Parliament He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament in the 2019 European Parliament election on 26 May 2019. On 2 July 2019, Bourgeois resigned as Flemish minister-president in order to assume