((Thee dost start an AAR of interactive was without me!? Pity be the fool XD))
Name: His August Presence Wilhelm Vanderhoof
Honourary Lord Protector of Ghent
Age: 50 (August 8th, 1786 - September 12th, 1856) [Age: 70]
Hometown: Ghent, Austrian Netherlands
Ethnicity: Technically Flemish, formerly Dutch, Batavian, French and Austrian
Religion: Catholic, formerly Protestant
Position: Land baron and Grain monopolist of Northern Flemish Grains Incorporated
Bio: Born the third and last child in a obscenely rich Vanderhoof family, it is said he caused his two brothers to have "accidents" in order to inherit the family riches.
Titles: - CEO of Northern Flemish Grains Incorporated (1810-1856)
- Lord Protector of Ghent (1832-1833)
- Honourary Lord Protector of Ghent (1833-1856)
- Minister of Finance (1841-1846)
- Minister without Portfolio (1851-1856)
His company is well known for working with any and all factions in order to increase his income. A list of his former "friends" include: the Austrian governor, the Napoleonic governor, the Batavian consulate and the Dutch governor of Ghent. He even switched to Catholicism in order to better gain favors from the French and Austrians.
When knowledge of the overwhelming revolution in the south, he marched into the Dutch Governor of Ghent's house as a friend and shot him in the back. He styled himself Lord Protector of Ghent and turned the city into his private fiefdom.
He has finally found someone worth trusting enough to leave Ghent under a "regency" and allow his entrance to the Convention. However soon after he was forced by the Belgian delegation to remove his authority over the city of Ghent and was honoured by the citizens there by being named "Honourary Lord Protector of Ghent".
He was a well known oppurtunist and plutocrat during the Constitutional Convention, seeking to advance himself and his interests over the state. Unsurprisingly the vast majority of his (many) bills failed to gain much traction.
During the Coup of '37, Vanderhoof became noted for his refusal to leave the Parliament Buildings, being briefly held by military forces and somewhat redeeming his unliked character for this brave action. It was following the coup that he met future Prime Minister Michael Daret.
When Daret won the election in 1841, he served as the Minister of Finance, who's somewhat Machiavellian tactic of raising tariffs in order to prove a point (and raise some money) controversially collapsed the Flemish clothe industry. However his friend had faith in him (if taking away his ability to use tariffs) and he served well until the Conservative Government in 1846.
Following this, he proposed some minor Constitutional changes and was appointed Minister without Portfolio in 1851. He enjoyed his work as MwP, focusing mainly on an ambitious route to the Dutch East Indies.
After a massive argument with prominent members of the CUP and KKP which nearly resulted in him being permanently eject from Parliament, Minister Vanderhoof strode off in anger. He disappeared for a week before his body was found by Brussel's Police robbed of all possessions.
((The king of slime has arrived))