1914 Belgian general election

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1914 Belgian general election
← 1912 24 May 1914 1919 →
88 of the 186 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
  First party Second party Third party
  DeBroqueville.jpg No image.png No image.png
Leader Charles de Broqueville Laurent Vandersmissen
Party Catholic Labour Liberal
Leader since Candidate for PM 1911
Seats before 101 seats 18 seats 21 seats
Seats won 41 26 20
Seats after 99 32 31
Seat change Decrease 2 Increase 14 Increase 10
Popular vote 570,806 404,701 326,922
Percentage 42.77% 30.32% 24.50%
Belgian Chamber 1914.svg
Government before election

De Broqueville I
Catholic

Government after election

De Broqueville I
Catholic

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]

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[]

Party Votes % Seats won Total seats Change
Catholic Party 570,806 42.77 41 99 –2
Belgian Labour Party 404,701 30.32 26 32 +14
Liberal Party 326,922 24.50 20 31 +10
Christian Democratic Party 22,219 1.66 1 1 0
Other parties 9,933 0.74 0 0 0
Liberal-Social Kartels - – – 23 -22
Invalid/blank votes 0 – – - -
Total 1,334,581 100 88 186 0
Source: Belgian Elections

Seats up for election[]

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

Province Arrondissement(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
Total 88

Elected members[]

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

  • (liberal), elected in Liège to replace (liberal), who did not seek re-election.
  • (liberal), elected in Liège to replace (liberal), who was not a candidate due to health reasons.
  • Paul-Emile Janson (liberal), elected in Tournai to replace (liberal), who did not seek re-election to the Chamber.
  • (liberal), elected in Tongeren-Maaseik to replace (catholic).
  • Clément Peten (liberal), elected in Hasselt to replace (catholic).
  • (socialist), elected in Huy-Waremme to replace (liberal).

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
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