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1954 Belgian general election

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1954 Belgian general election

← 1950 11 April 1954 1958 →

212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Jean Van Houtte Achille Van Acker Henri Liebaert
Party Christian Social Socialist Liberal
Leader since Candidate for PM Candidate for PM 1953
Last election 108 seats, 47.68% 73 seats, 34.51% 20 seats, 11.25%
Seats won 95 82 24
Seat change Decrease 13 Increase 9 Increase 4
Popular vote 2,123,408 1,927,015 626,983
Percentage 41.15% 37.34% 12.15%
Swing Decrease 6.53% Increase 2.83% Increase 0.90%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader N/A Edgard Lalmand Walter Couvreur
Party LSK PVDA-PTB CVV
Leader since N/A 1943 1954
Last election 4 seats, 1.77% 7 seats, 4.75% New
Seats won 5 4 1
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 3 New
Popular vote 108,175 184,108 113,632
Percentage 2.10% 3.57% 2.20%
Swing Increase 0.33% Decrease 1.18% New

Chamber seat distribution by constituency

Government before election

van Houtte
Christian Social

Government after election

van Acker IV
BSP/PSB-Lib

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.

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.

Results

[edit]

Chamber of Deputies

[edit]
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian Social Party2,123,40841.1495–13
Belgian Socialist Party1,927,01537.3482+9
Liberal Party626,98312.1524+4
Communist Party of Belgium184,1083.574–3
Christian Flemish People's Union113,6322.201New
Liberal–Socialist Kartels108,1752.105+1
Christian Social Rally of Liberty42,9790.831New
Radio Antwerp10,1770.200New
Middle Class9,7290.190New
Universal People3,1390.060New
Veteran Combatants1,8390.040New
Van Wonterghem1,8170.040New
Liberal dissidents1,8070.040New
Independent Social Party1,6130.030New
Hubert List1,1430.020New
Camus List1,0010.020New
Independent Union8840.020New
European Movement5810.010New
Flemish Bloc4560.010New
Mediator1910.000New
Independents2460.0000
Total5,160,923100.002120
Valid votes5,160,92394.46
Invalid/blank votes302,6685.54
Total votes5,463,591100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,863,09293.19
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

[edit]
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian Social Party2,127,69941.6349–5
Belgian Socialist Party1,915,21337.4842+5
Liberal Party620,97912.1511+1
Communist Party of Belgium181,8433.562–1
Liberal–Socialist Kartels108,9662.1320
Christian Flemish People's Union155,7583.050New
People's Union0New
Christian Social Rally of Liberty0New
Other parties0
Total5,110,458100.001060
Registered voters/turnout5,863,092
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Belgian Elections

References

[edit]
  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, p291