Elio Di Rupo

Elio Di Rupo is the leader of the French-speaking Belgian Socialist Party, i.e. the Parti Socialiste (PS), and one of Belgium's most powerful and popular politicians.

Elio Di Rupo is a flamboyant left-winger, and is widely considered to have played a major part in the resurgence of the PS, now the joint largest party in the Belgian parliament.

In 1996, he was wrongly accused of having had sex with minors by a young gay, Olivier Trusgnach. The allegations nearly put an end to his political career, but a judicial investigation cleared his name.

He is a deputy (MP) for the Hainaut division of Wallonia. He once described François Mitterrand as being "a character from a novel".