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212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Belgium |
Constitution |
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Foreign relations |
General elections were held in Belgium on 11 April 1954. [1] 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. [2] Voter turnout was 93.2%. [3] Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.
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.
The country of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, the Flemish Region or Flanders, and Walloon Region, or Wallonia, are each subdivided into five provinces. The third region, the Brussels-Capital Region, is not divided into provinces, as it was originally only a small part of a province itself.
The outgoing Catholic government led by Jean Van Houtte lost their majority in parliament. The two other main parties, the Socialist and Liberal Party, subsequently formed a rare "purple" government with Achille Van Acker as Prime Minister. Both parties had an anti-clerical agenda and aimed to reverse policies of the Catholic government regarding private schools. This would become known as the Second School War.
Jean (Jan) Marie Joseph, Baron Van Houtte was a Belgian politician.
Achille Van Acker was a Belgian politician who served three terms as Prime Minister of Belgium between 1946 and 1958. A moderate from Flanders, Van Acker was a member of the Belgian Socialist Party (PSB–BSP) and played an important role in the creation of the Belgian welfare state after World War II.
Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to remove the church from all aspects of public and political life, and its involvement in the everyday life of the citizen.
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
---|---|---|---|---|
Christian Social Party | 2,123,408 | 41.15 | 95 | –13 |
Belgian Socialist Party | 1,927,015 | 37.34 | 82 | +9 |
Liberal Party | 626,983 | 12.15 | 24 | +4 |
Communist Party of Belgium | 184,108 | 3.57 | 4 | –3 |
Christian Flemish People's Union | 113,632 | 2.20 | 1 | New |
Liberal-Soclialist Kartels | 108,175 | 2.10 | 5 | +1 |
Christian Social Rally of Liberty | 42,979 | 0.83 | 1 | New |
Radio Antwerp | 10,177 | 0.20 | 0 | New |
Middle Class | 9,729 | 0.19 | 0 | New |
Universal People | 3,139 | 0.06 | 0 | New |
Veteran Combatants | 1,839 | 0.04 | 0 | New |
Van Wonterghem | 1,817 | 0.04 | 0 | New |
Liberal Dissidents | 1,807 | 0.04 | 0 | New |
Independent Social Party | 1,613 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
Hubert List | 1,143 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
Camus List | 1,001 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
Independent Union | 884 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
European Movement | 581 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
Flemish Bloc | 456 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
Mediator | 191 | 0.00 | 0 | New |
Independents | 246 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
Invalid/blank votes | 302,668 | – | – | – |
Total | 5,463,154 | 100 | 212 | 0 |
Registered voters/turnout | 5,863,092 | 93.18 | – | – |
Source: Belgian Elections |
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
---|---|---|---|---|
Christian Social Party | 2,387,828 | 42.80 | 49 | –5 |
Belgian Socialist Party | 2,047,265 | 36.70 | 42 | +5 |
Liberal Party | 676,689 | 12.13 | 11 | +1 |
Communist Party of Belgium | 187,840 | 3.37 | 2 | –1 |
Liberal-Soclialist Kartels | 108,966 | 1.95 | 2 | 0 |
Christian Flemish People's Union | 82,862 | 1.49 | 0 | New |
People's Union | 36,564 | 0.66 | 0 | New |
Christian Social Rally of Liberty | 32,333 | 0.58 | 0 | New |
Other parties | 14,661 | 0.26 | 0 | – |
Invalid/blank votes | 286,541 | – | – | – |
Total | 5,965,130 | 100 | 106 | 0 |
Registered voters/turnout | 5,863,092 | 101.74 | – | – |
Source: Belgian Elections |
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