Belgian general election, 1946

Last updated
Belgian general election, 1946
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg
  1939 17 February 1946 (1946-02-17) 1949  

All 202 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
102 seats needed for a majority

 First partySecond partyThird party
  Hubert Pierlot 1947.jpg Bundesarchiv Bild 183-39998-0427, Paul-Henri Spaak.jpg 20161101 seraing040.jpg
Leader Hubert Pierlot Paul-Henri Spaak Julien Lahaut
Party Christian Social Socialist Communist
Leader sinceCandidate for PM?Candidate for PM1945
Last election73 seats, 33.58%64 seats, 29.44%9 seats, 4.65%
Seats won926923
Seat changeIncrease2.svg19Increase2.svg5Increase2.svg14
Popular vote1,006,293746,738300,099
Percentage42.54%31.57%12.69%
SwingIncrease2.svg8.96%Increase2.svg2.13%Increase2.svg8.04%

 Fourth partyFifth party
  No image.png No image.png
Leader Roger Motz Pierre Clerdent
Antoine Delfosse
Party Liberal Democratic Union
Leader since19451945
Last election33 seats, 17.18%New party
Seats won171
Seat changeDecrease2.svg16Increase2.svg1
Popular vote211,14351,095
Percentage8.93%2.16%
SwingDecrease2.svg8.25Increase2.svg2.16%

Government before election

van Acker II
BSP/PSB-Lib-UDB-KPB/PCB

Elected Government

Spaak II
BSP/PSB

State Coat of Arms of Belgium.svg
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Belgium
Constitution
Foreign relations

General elections were held in Belgium on 17 February 1946. [1] The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 92 of the 202 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 51 of the 101 seats in the Senate. [2] Voter turnout was 90.3%. [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 Christian Social Party (PSC-CVP) was a Christian democratic political party in Belgium, which existed from 1945 until 1968 when it split along linguistic lines.

Contents

They were the first elections after the Second World War and saw fundamental changes among the political parties. The Flemish National Union, which held 17 seats prior to the war and collaborated with Nazi Germany during the war, was outlawed. The Catholic Party changed into the Christian Social Party while the Belgian Labour Party changed into the Belgian Socialist Party. The Liberal Party suffered major losses, while the Christian Social Party and the Communist Party made major gains. Despite this, the Socialist Party led by Paul-Henri Spaak formed a minority government, which fell shortly after.

Vlaams Nationaal Verbond

The Vlaams Nationaal Verbond, widely known by its acronym VNV, was a Flemish nationalist political party active in Belgium between 1933 and 1945. It became the leading force of political collaboration in Flanders during the German occupation of Belgium in World War II. Authoritarian by inclination, the party advocated the creation of a "Greater Netherlands" (Dietsland) combining Flanders and the Netherlands.

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

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.

Results

Chamber of Deputies

PartyVotes%Seats
Christian Social Party 1,006,29342.5492
Belgian Socialist Party 746,73831.5769
Communist Party of Belgium 300,09912.6923
Liberal Party 211,1438.9317
Belgian Democratic Union 51,0952.161
Liberal-Socialist Kartels 37,8441.600
Union des métiers3,3600.140
FRENSSEN2,4800.100
Independents2,7850.120
Walloon Unity Party1,7740.070
Belgian People's Movement8650.040
Resistant6760.030
Middle Classes2740.010
Belgian Free Independents2120.010
Invalid/blank votes94,971
Total2,460,609100202
Registered voters/turnout2,724,79690.30
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

PartyVotes%Seats
Christian Social Party 999,26442.7451
Belgian Socialist Party 729,94331.2234
Communist Party of Belgium 300,65512.8611
Liberal Party 214,8379.194
Belgian Democratic Union 48,4412.070
Liberal-Socialist Kartels 33,7321.441
Union des métiers3,7640.160
Demarrez3,7530.160
Independents3,8660.170
Invalid/blank votes106,767
Total2,445,022100101
Source: Belgian Elections

Related Research Articles

1918 Dutch general election

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 3 July 1918. They were the first elections held after a series of reforms that introduced universal male suffrage and pure proportional representation, replacing the previous system using first-past-the-post voting in single member constituencies. This change was known as the Great Pacification, which also included the introduction of state financing of religious schools, and led to the start of consociational democracy.

1922 Dutch general election

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 5 July 1922. They were the first elections held under universal suffrage, which became reality after the acceptance of a proposal by Henri Marchant in 1919 that gave women full voting rights. Almost all major parties had a woman elected. The number of female representatives increased from one to seven. Only the Anti-Revolutionary Party principally excluded women from the House of Representatives. Another amendment to the electoral law increased the electoral threshold from 0.5% to 0.75%, after six parties had won seats with less than 0.75% of the vote in the previous elections.

2006 Slovak parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 17 June 2006. Direction – Social Democracy emerged as the largest party in the National Council, winning 50 of the 150 seats. Its leader Robert Fico was appointed Prime Minister on 4 July 2006, leading a three-party coalition.

General elections were held in Luxembourg on 21 October 1945. They were the first elections held after the German occupation during World War II. As a result of the war, the political alliances of the interwar period had been ended. In their place were new parties; the Christian Social People's Party, the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party, and the Patriotic and Democratic Group in place of the Party of the Right, Socialist Party, and Radical Liberal Party respectively. It is regarded as a realigning election, as the election established the party political order, with four established parties, that would be maintained until 1974.

1984 Luxembourg general election

General elections were held in Luxembourg on 17 June 1984. The Christian Social People's Party remained the largest party, winning 25 of the 64 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. It formed a coalition government with the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party, the Santer-Poos government.

1989 Luxembourg general election

General elections were held in Luxembourg on 18 June 1989. The Christian Social People's Party remained the largest party, winning 22 of the 60 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. It continued the coalition government with the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party.

1949 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 26 June 1949. Several reforms took effect prior to the elections; they were the first after the introduction of universal women's suffrage; the number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives was increased from 202 to 212, and from now on, elections for the nine provincial councils were held simultaneously with parliamentary elections. The number of Chamber seats and the simultaneous provincial and parliamentary elections would remain unchanged until state reforms in 1993.

1950 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 4 June 1950. The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 108 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 54 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 92.6%. This election was the last one in Belgian history were a single party achieved an absolute majority. Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.

1954 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 11 April 1954. The dominant Christian Social Party won 95 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 49 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 93.2%. Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.

1958 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 1 June 1958. The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 104 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 53 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 93.6% in the Chamber election and 93.7% in the Senate election. Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.

1961 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 26 March 1961. The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 96 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 47 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 92.3%. Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.

1965 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 23 May 1965. The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 77 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 44 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 91.6%. Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.

1981 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 8 November 1981. Voter turnout was 94.5% in the Chamber election and 94.6% in the Senate election. Elections were also held for the nine provincial councils and for the Council of the German Cultural Community. They were the first elections after the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18. This contributed to the success of the socialist parties and the green parties. The traditionally largest Christian People's Party saw significant losses, with only 43 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives.

1978 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 17 December 1978. The Christian People's Party emerged as the largest party, with 57 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 29 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 94.8%. Elections were also held for the nine provincial councils and for the Council of the German Cultural Community.

1990 Hungarian parliamentary election

The 1990 Hungarian parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 25 March 1990, with a second round of voting taking place in all but five single member constituencies on 8 April. They were the first completely free and competitive elections to be held in the country since 1945, and only the second free elections in the country's history. The conservative, nationalist Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) beat the liberal and more internationalist Alliance of Free Democrats, which had spearheaded opposition to Communist rule in 1989, to become the largest party in parliament. The Hungarian Socialist Party, the former Communist party, suffered a crushing defeat, winning only 33 seats for fourth place.

1894 Belgian general election

Full general elections were held in Belgium on 14 October 1894, with run-off elections held on 21 October 1894.

1898 Belgian general election

Partial legislative elections were held in Belgium on 22 May 1898, with run-off elections held on 29 May. Under the alternating system, elections for the Chamber of Representatives were held in only four out of the nine provinces: Hainaut, Limburg, Liège and East Flanders. Thus, only 75 seats out of the 152 seats in the Chamber of Representatives were up for election. The Catholic Party retained their absolute majority.

1936 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 24 May 1936. The result was a victory for the Belgian Labour Party, which won 70 of the 202 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 39 of the 101 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 94.7%.

1920 Hungarian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 25 and 26 January 1920. However, they were only held in 164 districts. After the Treaty of Trianon was signed, the 44 districts previously occupied by Romania voted between 13 June and 5 July, whilst the 11 districts occupied by Serbia did not vote until 30 and 31 October 1921. The election was held with compulsory voting. In protest at this and other changes to the franchise that left 60% of the voting age population unable to vote, the Hungarian Social Democratic Party boycotted the elections, and called for its supporters to cast invalid votes, resulting in an unusually high number of blank or invalid votes - 11.8% in the January elections and over 20% in Budapest and other major cities.

1918 Liechtenstein general election

General elections were held in Liechtenstein on 11 March 1918, with a second round on 18 March. They were the first elections held in the country contested by political parties, as the Christian-Social People's Party and Progressive Citizens' Party had been founded that year. The Progressive Citizens' Party emerged as the largest in the Landtag, winning seven of the 12 elected seats.

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p289 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, pp309-311
  3. Nohlen & Stöver, p290