| Native Name: | Mouvement Réformateur |
| Abbreviation: | MR |
| President: | Georges-Louis Bouchez |
| Think Tank: | Centre Jean Gol |
| Student Wing: | Fédération des Étudiants Libéraux |
| Youth Wing: | Jeunes MR |
| Headquarters: | National Secretariat Avenue de la Toison D'Or 84-86 1060 Brussels, Belgium |
| Position: | Centre-right[1] [2] |
| International: | Liberal International |
| European: | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
| Europarl: | Renew Europe |
| Regional: | Liberal Group[3] |
| Affiliation1 Title: | Flemish counterpart |
| Affiliation1: | Open VLD |
| Affiliation2 Title: | counterpart |
| Affiliation2: | Party for Freedom and Progress |
| Seats1 Title: | Chamber of Representatives (French-speaking seats) |
| Seats2 Title: | Senate (French-speaking seats) |
| Seats3 Title: | Walloon Parliament |
| Seats4 Title: | Parliament of the French Community |
| Seats5 Title: | Parliament of the German-speaking Community |
| Seats6 Title: | Brussels Parliament (French-speaking seats) |
| Seats7 Title: | European Parliament (French-speaking seats) |
| Seats8 Title: | Benelux Parliament |
| Colours: | Blue |
| Country: | Belgium |
The Reformist Movement[4] [5] (French: Mouvement Réformateur, pronounced as /fr/, MR) is a liberal[6] [7] [8] French-speaking political party in Belgium. which includes social-liberal[9] [10] [11] and conservative-liberal factions.[12] [13] Stemming from the Belgian Liberal Party founded in 1846, the MR is one of the oldest parties on the European continent.[14]
Since October 2014, the party has provided two prime ministers: Charles Michel and Sophie Wilmès. It has been a member of every federal government since the 2000s. At the federated entities level, the MR was in charge of Wallonia from 2017 to 2019 with Willy Borsus as Minister-President of Wallonia. It is currently in charge of the French community with Pierre-Yves Jeholet as Minister-President of the French community.
The MR emerged victorious from the 2024 elections, becoming the leading French-speaking party. In Wallonia, the party came out on top with 29.6% of the vote. In Brussels, the MR also placed first, with 25.9% of the vote. Just a few days after the elections, the MR announced it would work closely with Les Engagés to quickly form governments in the Walloon Region and the French community.[15] Having a majority on the French-speaking side of the Federal parliament, they joined forces to work on the formation of a new Belgian governement.[16]
The MR is an alliance between three French-speaking and one German-speaking liberal parties. The Liberal Reformist Party (PRL) and the Francophone Democratic Federalists (FDF) started the alliance in 1993, and were joined in 1998 by the Citizens' Movement for Change (MCC). The alliance was then known as the PRL-FDF-MCC federation. The alliance became the MR during a congress in 2002, where the German-speaking liberal party, the Party for Freedom and Progress joined as well.[17] The label PRL is no longer used, and the three other parties still use their own names. The MR is a member of Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party. However, on 25 September 2011, the FDF decided to leave the coalition. They did not agree with the manner in which president Charles Michel defended the rights of the French-speaking people in the agreement concerning the splitting of the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde district, during the 2010–11 Belgian government formation.[18]
Over the years, the MR has always oscillated between ideological markers closer to conservative liberalism or social liberalism. Its fundamental principles remain however the same through time, such as defending civil liberties, free market, entrepreneurial freedom, and equal opportunities.
During Georges-Louis Bouchez's tenure as party president, it has been said that the party has shifted more to the right.[19] Bouchez has for example often publicly pointed out some excesses of the woke movement.[20]
On its current platform, the party advocates higher revenues through lower taxes; time-limited unemployment benefits; life extension of the most recent nuclear reactors; greater investment in police, justice and defense; less government and state neutrality.[21] MR is "belgicain", in favor of Belgian unity and a strong federal state.[22]
The MR is also a strong supporter of the European Union and NATO.[23] It has always defended support, including military aid, for Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022. In 2024, the MR is the only party from De Croo Government to oppose to Belgium recognizing the State of Palestine.[24]
In the European Parliament, Mouvement Réformateur sits in the Renew Europe group with three MEPs: Sophie Wilmès, Olivier Chastel and Benoit Cassart.
In the European Committee of the Regions, Mouvement Réformateur sits in the Renew Europe CoR group, with one full and one alternate member for the 2020-2025 mandate.[25] [26] Willy Borsus is second vice-president of the Renew Europe CoR Group.[27]
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 623,250 | 10.3 | ||||
| 1999 | 630,219 | 10.1 | 1 | |||
| 2003 | 748,954 | 11.4 | 6 | |||
| 2007 | 835,073 | 12.5 | 1 | |||
| 2010 | 605,617 | 9.3 | 5 | |||
| 2014 | 650,260 | 9.6 | 2 | |||
| 2019 | 512,825 | 7.6 | 6 | |||
| 2024 | 716,934 | 10.3 | 6 |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 672,798 | 11.2 | |||
| 1999 | 654,961 | 10.6 | 0 | ||
| 2003 | 795,757 | 12.2 | 0 | ||
| 2007 | 815,755 | 12.3 | 1 | ||
| 2010 | 599,618 | 9.3 | 2 |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | |||||||
| 1989 | 83,011 | 18.9 (#2) | |||||
| 1995 | 144,478 | 35.0 (#1) | 13 | ||||
| 1999 | 146,845 | 40.1 (#1) | 34.4 (#1) | 1 | |||
| 2004 | 127,122 | 32.5 (#2) | 28.0 (#2) | 2 | |||
| 2009 | 121,905 | 29.8 (#1) | 26.5 (#1) | 1 | |||
| 2014 | 94,227 | 23.0 (#2) | 20.4 (#2) | 6 | |||
| 2019 | 65,502 | 16.9 (#3) | 14.3 (#3) | 5 | |||
| 2024 | 101,157 | 26.0 (#1) | 7 | ||||
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 447,542 | 23.7 (#2) | ||||
| 1999 | 470,454 | 24.7 (#2) | 2 | |||
| 2004 | 478,999 | 24.3 (#2) | 1 | |||
| 2009 | 469,792 | 23.1 (#2) | 1 | |||
| 2014 | 546,363 | 26.7 (#2) | 6 | |||
| 2019 | 435,878 | 21.4 (#2) | 5 | |||
| 2024 | 612.010 | 29.1 (#1) | 6 |
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | EP Group | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | |||||||
| 1979 | André Damseaux | 372,904 | 17.76 (#4) | 6.85 | New | LD | |
| 1984 | Daniel Ducarme | 540,610 | 24.14 (#2) | 9.45 | 1 | LDR | |
| 1989 | François-Xavier de Donnea | 423,479 | 18.90 (#2) | 7.18 | 1 | ||
| 1994 | Jean Gol | 541,724 | 24.25 (#2) | 9.08 | 0 | ELDR | |
| 1999 | Daniel Ducarme | 624,445 | 26.99 (#1) | 10.03 | 0 | ||
| 2004 | Louis Michel | 671,422 | 27.58 (#2) | 10.35 | 1 | ALDE | |
| 2009 | 640,092 | 26.05 (#2) | 9.74 | 1 | |||
| 2014 | 661,332 | 27.10 (#2) | 9.88 | 1 | |||
| 2019 | Olivier Chastel | 470,654 | 19.29 (#3) | 7.06 | 1 | RE | |
| 2024 | Sophie Wilmès | 900,413 | 34.88 (#1) | 12.62 | 1 | ||