His nationalist party N-VA may have won the elections, but De Wever has no ambition of becoming prime minister. Flemish nationalist parties – N-VA and its predecessor Volksunie – have always been apprehensive when it comes to entering governments. Whenever they do, party members suspect their own ministers of putting their own careers before their parties’ interests. This is one of the reasons why De Wever opted to stay out of the Flemish government in 2009.

Moreover, there is always a price to be paid for the post of prime minister. N-VA would rather see the French-speaking socialists, with hopeful Elio Di Rupo, pay the cost. Plus, it is a bit odd for De Wever to become prime minister of Belgium, a nation in which he does not believe.

All the other Flemish parties, however would prefer to see Bart De Wever in rather than out of the federal government. Patrick Janssens, socialist mayor of Antwerp, was the first one to point out that “it is only logical that De Wever should not stay on the side”. Janssens has good reasons to say this: in 2006 he swept away the opposition in the municipal elections. At that time, De Wever, also from Antwerp, was known only to a political in-crowd. With De Wever now at his peak of popularity, Janssens may be up for a real battle in 2012. No wonder he prefers De Wever getting his hands dirty, the surest way to see his popularity dwindle.

The Christian Democrat CD&V, too, has rather Machiavellian reasons to hope for a minister De Wever. The Christian Democrats believe that their electoral defeat is due to their “taking up responsibility”. By this logic, De Wever owes his victory to opting out – both of the Flemish and federal government. They will not tolerate him as some sort of looker-on, producing one after the other of his famous one-liners.

De Wever, meanwhile, concentrates on shaping a government with parties that are described as “fire and water”. You cannot stay a virgin forever, his opponents say. But maybe De Wever, being a Roman scholar, knows better. Who better to guard a fire than a Vestal virgin?