Xavier Bettel (born 3 March 1973 in Luxembourg City)[1] is a Luxembourgish politician and lawyer, currently the mayor of Luxembourg City as well as a member of the Chamber of Deputies and communal council.
Following municipal elections on 9 October 2011, at the young age of 38, Bettel was sworn in as Mayor of Luxembourg on 24 November 2011.[2][3]
Bettel ran for the Chamber of Deputies in the 1999 legislative election, and finished 10th amongst DP candidates in the Centre constituency, with the top seven being elected.[4] However, the DP overtook the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) as the second-largest party, and its members formed the majority of the new government as the Christian Social People's Party's (CSV) coalition partners. Thus, with Lydie Polfer and Anne Brasseur vacating their seats to take roles in the government, and Colette Flesch not taking her seat so as to focus on her role as Member of the European Parliament, Bettel was appointed to the Chamber, starting 12 August 1999.[1]
In the 1999 communal elections, held in October, Bettel was elected to Luxembourg City's communal council, finishing sixth on the DP's list. On 12 July 2001, he qualified as a lawyer.[1] By the 2004 election to the Chamber of Deputies, Bettel had significantly solidified his position, and finished fourth (with five DP members being elected), returning him to the Chamber.[5] On 28 November 2005, after the communal elections in which he placed fourth on the DP list, Bettel was appointed échevin in Luxembourg City.[1]
Bettel is openly gay.[6]