Too much airtime kills the message. And when it’s too much… it’s just too much.

For five and a half years, Georges-Louis Bouchez has been everywhere in Belgian politics — with the regularity of a metronome and the stamina of a marathon runner.

A former “socialist at heart” turned unapologetic liberal boss, he has ruled the Mouvement Réformateur (MR) like a one-man monarchy — alone against the world, but always standing tall.

Every TV debate, every online brawl, every political scrap — he’s there. He’s made the MR his image, and his image is the MR.

But when you try to be everything, all the time, one question inevitably hits: What’s left of the MR without Georges-Louis Bouchez?

2019: The surprise coup

November 28, 2019. Against all odds, the young senator from Mons beats Denis Ducarme with 62% of the vote. His winning formula? Hyperactivity on social media, a sharp tongue, and the promise to jolt a tired party back to life.

From day one, Bouchez refused to blend into the background. He became the face of MR in every battle — from budget fights to Brussels traffic disputes.

The omnipresence problem

Radio. TV. Podcasts. Twitter. Instagram. Bouchez is on every frequency. Even during the pandemic, he positioned himself as the lone “pure” liberal voice, squaring off daily against PS and Ecolo over lockdowns and masks.

That visibility fired up his loyalists. But it also wore down everyone else.

In politics, overexposure is a trap: every slip-up becomes a viral storm, every quarrel a national crisis. And with Bouchez, there’s no other MR figure to share the heat.

No second act in sight

By placing allies and rivals alike in positions of influence, Bouchez killed any real internal opposition. He became indispensable — the single point of gravity.

The rest?
• Sophie Wilmès — popular, now in the European Parliament, but practically invisible.
• Willy Borsus — solid, but media-shy.
• David Clarinval — capable, but charisma-free.

If Bouchez vanished tomorrow, MR would plunge into a succession crisis.

Popular at the shop counter, toxic at the coalition table

In Brussels, Bouchez’s confrontational style thrills shopkeepers and law-and-order voters. But it freezes out Ecolo and PS — partners he’d need to govern.

And in Belgium, no one governs alone. Being too polarising doesn’t just hurt — it kills coalitions before they’re born.

A scandal magnet

Bouchez attracts controversies like metal to a lightning rod:
• The disabled parking badge scandal (2025) — his driver parks for free using a disabled permit. Bouchez denies responsibility, but the damage is done.
• The RTBF phone call — a journalist gets a “menacing” callback. The leaked audio blows up online.

Minor incidents — but in the Bouchez 24/7 news cycle, minor becomes massive.

Why stepping back could be his smartest move yet

Dropping the mic wouldn’t be surrender — it would be strategy.
• Make people miss him.
• Give other MR faces some oxygen.
• Let the tempests die down.
• Return with a fresher, more unifying message.

The truth is, in politics, absence can be power. A step back isn’t a retreat — it’s a reset.

And the bitter punchline?

If Bouchez ever had a burnout, he’d probably still have to work. Why? Because under his own reforms, social security might deny him sick leave.

Belgian politics doesn’t often serve irony this rich.

Stay tuned.

Source:The Brussels Times. (2023, October 9). Georges-Louis Bouchez set to serve another year as MR leader. https://www.brusselstimes.com/728569/georges-louis-bouchez-set-to-serve-another-year-as-mr-leader