Being a “daddy’s boy”  could be the key to political success. Visit this site for more details about fathers and sons. For its comeback, the program “Questions à la Une” hits hard with a very sensitive political theme. It concerns the “sons of”. And to try to find out if this status offers a royal route in politics, we followed several personalities such as Frédéric Darden, Julien Uyttendaele, and Laurette Onkelinx or even Fabian and Olivier Maintain.

An important phenomenon

It is enough to turn to the highest office of our country to realize it, the phenomenon is important in Belgium. Our Prime Minister, Charles Michel, is a “son of”. According to some observers, this phenomenon is even on the rise. So we were interested in these children who inherit politics. How is passion transmitted? How do you get the first name? Is their presence a brake on democracy? We were able to follow them for several weeks at the heart of their professional but also more personal activities. An unprecedented dive into their world. You will see in particular Alexander and Herman De Croo practicing their common passion: horse riding in their town of Brakel or even Frédéric Daerden with his two daughters who do not exclude one day following the path of their father and grandfather. And then, if most of the “sons of” choose the same party as their parents, they also seek to distinguish themselves and exist on their own. But they all have one thing in common: they recognize that their family ties have necessarily helped them. This is played out at the level of the voters but also in the internal network of the party.

A most delicate subject

Just pronouncing this term “son of” is enough to make a lot of them cringe. They usually don’t like to be brought down to it but, at the same time, use it during their careers. It was therefore not easy to convince them to participate in the show. It took phone calls, meetings too. And many waited, before agreeing, to know who were the other participants and what they agreed to reveal to us. At the level of the sons but also of the parents. It was, therefore, necessary to reassure them and put in place a patient strategy. But others have outright refused.

A complicated political context

The first Monday of preparation of the subject is the day when Benoit Lutgen, son of him too, decided to disconnect the plug of the governments of the federated entities. Suddenly there was a moment when no one wanted to speak, sometimes waiting to know what was going to become of them. Then, it was unblocked little by little. Some parties have also given instructions not to intervene in the media. The context was therefore not the most favorable, but we must keep in mind that these “sons and daughters of” remain politicians. There is therefore the desire to make people talk about them and to position themselves for the next municipal elections in 2018 since it is already a year away, and everyone has started their campaign.