Belgian general election, 1919

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Belgian general election, 1919
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←  1914 16 November 1919 1921  →
All 186 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
All 93 seats in the Senate

 First partySecond partyThird party
  No image.png DELACROIX LEON.jpg No image.png
LeaderJoseph Van Roosbroeck Léon Delacroix
Party Labour Catholic Liberal
Leader since1918Candidate for PM
Seats before32 seats99 seats31 seats
Seats won707034
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 38Decrease2.svg 19Increase2.svg 3
Popular vote645,124619,911310,876
Percentage36.62%35.19%17.65%
SwingIncrease2.svg 6.30%Decrease2.svg 7.58%Decrease2.svg 6.85%
Government before election

Delacroix I
National Unity (Catholic-Lab-Lib)

Elected Government

Delacroix II
National Unity (Catholic-Lab-Lib)

General elections were held in Belgium on 16 November 1919. [1] Although the Belgian Labour Party received the most votes in the Chamber of Representatives elections, the Catholic Party remained the largest party in both the Chamber and the Senate. [2] Voter turnout was 88.5% in the Chamber elections. [3]

Belgium Federal constitutional monarchy in Western Europe

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 square kilometres (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.

The Belgian Labour Party or Belgian Workers' Party was the first major socialist party in Belgium. Founded in 1885, the party was officially disbanded in 1940 and superseded by the Belgian Socialist Party in 1945.

The Catholic Party was established in 1869 as the Confessional Catholic Party.

Contents

They were the first elections after the First World War, and the first with universal single-vote suffrage (for men), a change that was sought by and benefited the Belgian Labour Party. The voting age was also lowered from 25 to 21, and the system of proportional representation was modified to use apparentment (combining votes of different arrondissements within a province).

Universal suffrage Political concept

The concept of universal suffrage, also known as general suffrage or common suffrage, consists of the right to vote of all adult citizens, regardless of property ownership, income, race, or ethnicity, subject only to minor exceptions. In its original 19th-century usage by political reformers, universal suffrage was understood to mean only universal manhood suffrage; the vote was extended to women later, during the women's suffrage movement.

Apparentment is the name given to the system, sometimes provided for in elections conducted according to the party-list proportional representation system, which allows parties to specify electoral alliances. The system has been used in Switzerland since 1919.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

PartyVotes%Seats+/-
Belgian Labour Party 645,12436.6270+30
Catholic Party 619,91135.1970-29
Liberal Party 310,87617.6534-9
Frontpartij 60,8143.455New
Catholic Dissidents36,0632.053New
Middle Class19,9391.131New
Combatants19,0751.082New
National Renaissance18,5461.051New
Other parties31,4521.7900
Invalid/blank votes0––-
Total1,761,8021001860
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Catholic Party 685,04143.3043–11
Liberal Party 490,04630.9830+16
Belgian Labour Party 388,01124.5320+11
Other parties18,9141.2000
Invalid/blank votes0–––
Total1,582,012100930
Source: Belgian Elections

Constituencies

The distribution of seats among the electoral districts was as follows: [4] [5]

ProvinceArrondissement(s)ChamberSenate
Antwerp Antwerp 157
Mechelen 55
Turnhout 4
Elected by the provincial council3
Limburg Hasselt 34
Tongeren-Maaseik 4
Elected by the provincial council2
East Flanders Aalst 54
Oudenaarde 3
Gent-Eeklo 126
Dendermonde 44
Sint-Niklaas 4
Elected by the provincial council4
West Flanders Bruges 42
Roeselare-Tielt 53
Kortrijk 54
Ypres 3
Veurne-Diksmuide-Ostend 52
Elected by the provincial council3
Brabant Leuven 73
Brussels 2613
Nivelles 42
Elected by the provincial council4
Hainaut Tournai-Ath 63
Charleroi 117
Thuin 3
Mons 75
Soignies 4
Elected by the provincial council4
Liège Huy-Waremme 42
Liège 137
Verviers 52
Elected by the provincial council3
Luxembourg Arlon-Marche-Bastogne 33
Neufchâteau-Virton 3
Elected by the provincial council2
Namur Namur 55
Dinant-Philippeville 4
Elected by the provincial council2
Total18693 + 27

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References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p289 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, pp308-310
  3. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p290
  4. ↑ List of members of the Chamber of Representatives (1919-1920)
  5. ↑ List of members of the Senate (1919-1920)
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