Vogels has been the face of the green party in Flanders for decades. Even people who abhor ecologists find it hard to dislike her. She has remained just as cheeky as she was in the 1980s. She oozes politics, yet people see her as a cheerful neighbour, a jolly auntie, a favourite drinking pal. She stands out in her party, which attracts the brainier sort, as anything but intellectual. At the same time, she has more political gut-feeling than the rest of them put together.

Her name has contributed to her slightly frivolous reputation. Mieke – short for Maria – is Flemish dialect for “girl”, which suits her fine. Vogels means “birds” in Dutch. Has there ever been a better name for a green politician?

Vogels was there during all the ups and downs of the Flemish greens. Her biggest triumph was in 1999, when the green party Groen! entered both the Flemish and federal governments. As Flemish minister for Welfare, she reached an agreement with the care workers, who had been asking for higher wages and better working conditions for years. In celebration, she danced with the strikers on the streets.

Four years later, the greens were all but wiped out in the elections. Vogels decided to step back. But it was too soon to write her off. In a dozing Flemish parliament, she stood out as an opposition speaker. When she decided to run for party president in 2007, she was called a dinosaur. An attention junkie, too. But, of course, she won.

At this point, Vogels is often called moe, which means Mum or Granny – just one of the reasons she has decided to step back as president of Groen! and let the younger generation take over. At last, some say. But there’s still a lot of cheeky Mieke in her.