1919 Belgian general election

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1919 Belgian general election
← 1914 16 November 1919 1921 →
All 186 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
All 93 seats in the Senate
  First party Second party Third party
  No image.png DELACROIX LÉON.jpg No image.png
Leader Joseph Van Roosbroeck Léon Delacroix
Party Labour Catholic Liberal
Leader since 1918 Candidate for PM
Seats before 32 seats 99 seats 31 seats
Seats won 70 70 34
Seat change Increase 38 Decrease 19 Increase 3
Popular vote 645,124 619,911 310,876
Percentage 36.62% 35.19% 17.65%
Swing Increase 6.30% Decrease 7.58% Decrease 6.85%
Government before election

Delacroix I
National Unity (Catholic-Lab-Lib)

Government after election

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]

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).

Results[]

Chamber of Representatives[]

Belgian Chamber 1919.svg
Party Votes % Seats +/-
Belgian Labour Party 645,124 36.62 70 +30
Catholic Party 619,911 35.19 70 -29
Liberal Party 310,876 17.65 34 -9
Frontpartij 60,814 3.45 5 New
Catholic Dissidents 36,063 2.05 3 New
Middle Class 19,939 1.13 1 New
Combatants 19,075 1.08 2 New
National Renaissance 18,546 1.05 1 New
Other parties 31,452 1.79 0 0
Invalid/blank votes 0 – – -
Total 1,761,802 100 186 0
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate[]

Belgium Senate 1919.svg
Party Votes % Seats +/–
Catholic Party 685,041 43.30 43 –11
Liberal Party 490,046 30.98 30 +16
Belgian Labour Party 388,011 24.53 20 +11
Other parties 18,914 1.20 0 0
Invalid/blank votes 0 – – –
Total 1,582,012 100 93 0
Source: Belgian Elections

Constituencies[]

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

Province Arrondissement(s) Chamber Senate
Antwerp Antwerp 15 7
Mechelen 5 5
Turnhout 4
Elected by the provincial council 3
Limburg Hasselt 3 4
Tongeren-Maaseik 4
Elected by the provincial council 2
East Flanders Aalst 5 4
Oudenaarde 3
Gent-Eeklo 12 6
Dendermonde 4 4
Sint-Niklaas 4
Elected by the provincial council 4
West Flanders Bruges 4 2
Roeselare-Tielt 5 3
Kortrijk 5 4
Ypres 3
Veurne-Diksmuide-Ostend 5 2
Elected by the provincial council 3
Brabant Leuven 7 3
Brussels 26 13
Nivelles 4 2
Elected by the provincial council 4
Hainaut Tournai-Ath 6 3
Charleroi 11 7
Thuin 3
Mons 7 5
Soignies 4
Elected by the provincial council 4
Liège Huy-Waremme 4 2
Liège 13 7
Verviers 5 2
Elected by the provincial council 3
Luxembourg Arlon-Marche-Bastogne 3 3
Neufchâteau-Virton 3
Elected by the provincial council 2
Namur Namur 5 5
Dinant-Philippeville 4
Elected by the provincial council 2
Total 186 93 + 27

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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