1914 Belgian general election

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1914 Belgian general election
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
  1912 24 May 1914 1919  

88 of the 186 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
 First partySecond partyThird party
  DeBroqueville.jpg 3x4.svg 3x4.svg
Leader Charles de Broqueville Laurent Vandersmissen
Party Catholic Labour Liberal
Seats won412620
Popular vote570,806404,701326,922
Percentage42.77%30.32%24.50%

Government before election

De Broqueville I
Catholic

Government after election

De Broqueville I
Catholic

Prime Minister Charles de Broqueville M 37 4 Charles de Brocqueville.jpg
Prime Minister Charles de Broqueville

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 24 May 1914. [1] The result was a victory for the Catholic Party, which won 41 of the 88 seats up for election in the Chamber of Representatives. [2]

Contents

The Catholics had formed the government continuously since 1884; the incumbent de Broqueville government was in office since 1911.

Under the alternating system, elections were only held in four out of the nine provinces: Hainaut, Limburg, Liège and East Flanders. This was the last time this system was applied, as the next elections in 1919 saw the introduction of full four-year terms.

The elections occurred shortly before the outbreak of World War I. The newly elected legislature met for just one day in a special session: on 4 August 1914, when King Albert I addressed the United Chambers of Parliament upon the German invasion of Belgium. The parliament met again after the war in November 1918.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats
Won
Catholic Party 570,80642.7741
Belgian Labour Party 404,70130.3226
Liberal Party 326,92224.5020
Christene Volkspartij 22,2191.661
Socialist dissidents2,0520.150
Catholic dissidents1,7860.130
Independents6,0950.460
Total1,334,581100.0088
Source: Belgian Elections [3]

Seats up for election

Seats in the provinces of Antwerp, Brabant, Luxembourg, Namur and West Flanders were not up for election.

ProvinceArrondissement(s)Chamber
Limburg Hasselt 3
Tongeren-Maaseik 4
East Flanders Aalst 5
Oudenaarde 3
Gent-Eeklo 12
Dendermonde 4
Sint-Niklaas 4
Hainaut Tournai-Ath 6
Charleroi 11
Thuin 3
Mons 7
Soignies 4
Liège Huy-Waremme 4
Liège 13
Verviers 5
Total88

Elected members

Apart from the re-elected members, the following six members were newly elected:

References

  1. Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (31 May 2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. p. 289. ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7.
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p308
  3. Belgian Elections