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
  Brussels, Palais de la Nation, Jean Van Houtte.jpg Achille Van Acker.jpg No image.png
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
  No image.png No image.png No image.png
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
1954 Belgian legislative election results map.svg
Chamber seat distribution by constituency
Government before election

van Houtte
Christian Social

Government after election

van Acker IV
BSP/PSB-Lib

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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[]

Chamber of Deputies[]

Belgian Chamber 1954.svg
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-Socialist 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

Senate[]

Belgium Senate 1954.svg
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-Socialist 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

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, p291
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