1961 Belgian general election

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1961 Belgian general election
← 1958 26 March 1961 1965 →
212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
  First party Second party Third party
  Théo Lefèvre 1964b.jpg Leo Collard 1968.jpg No image.png
Leader Théo Lefèvre Léo Collard Roger Motz
Party Christian Social Socialist Liberal
Leader since Candidate for PM 1959 1958
Last election 104 seats, 46.50% 80 seats, 35.79% 20 seats, 11.05%
Seats won 96 84 20
Seat change Decrease 8 Increase 4 Steady
Popular vote 2,182,642 1,933,424 649,376
Percentage 41.46% 36.72% 12.33%
Swing Decrease 5.04% Increase 0.93% Increase 1.28%
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  No image.png No image.png No image.png
Leader Frans Van der Elst Ernest Burnelle Jean-Marie Evrard
Party VU PVDA-PTB RN
Leader since 1955 1954 1959
Last election 1 seat, 1.98% 2 seats, 1.89% New
Seats won 5 5 1
Seat change Increase 4 Increase 3 New
Popular vote 182,407 162,238 42,450
Percentage 3.46% 3.08% 0.81%
Swing Increase 1.48% Increase 1.19% New
1961 Belgian legislative election results map.svg
Chamber seat distribution by constituency
Government before election

G. Eyskens IV
CVP/PSC-Lib

Government after election

Lefèvre
CVP/PSC-BSP/PSB

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General elections were held in Belgium on 26 March 1961.[1] The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 96 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 47 of the 106 seats in the Senate.[2] Voter turnout was 92.3%.[3] Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.

Prior to the elections, the centre-right government of the Christian Social and Liberal Party led by Gaston Eyskens pushed through austerity measures with a law known as the Eenheidswet or Loi Unique, despite heavy strikes in the preceding weeks, especially in Wallonia. After the elections, the Christian Democrats formed a new government with the Socialist Party instead of the Liberal Party, with Théo Lefèvre as Prime Minister.

Results[]

Chamber of Deputies[]

Belgian Chamber 1961.svg
Party Votes % Seats +/–
Christian Social Party 2,182,642 41.46 96 –8
Belgian Socialist Party 1,933,424 36.72 84 +4
Liberal Party 649,376 12.33 20 0
People's Union 182,407 3.46 5 +4
Communist Party of Belgium 162,238 3.08 5 +3
National Rally 42,450 0.81 1 New
Independent Party 33,174 0.63 0 New
National Union of Independents 12,252 0.23 0 New
National Party 4,375 0.08 0 New
Liberal Dissidents 3,956 0.08 0 New
Walloon Unity 3,466 0.07 0 New
Alleenstaande 3,101 0.06 0 New
Zelfstandig 2,307 0.04 0 New
Francophone Bloc 1,824 0.03 0 New
Gekavemus 604 0.01 0 New
Independent Workers 551 0.01 0 New
Universal People 480 0.01 0 New
EC Group 154 0.00 0 New
Independents 46,244 0.88 1 –
Invalid/blank votes 308,815 – – –
Total 5,573,840 100 212 0
Registered voters/turnout 6,036,165 92.34 – –
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate[]

Belgium Senate 1961.svg
Party Votes % Seats +/–
Christian Social Party 2,200,323 42.12 47 –6
Belgian Socialist Party 1,924,605 36.84 45 +5
Liberal Party 637,922 12.20 11 +1
Communist Party of Belgium 163,576 3.13 1 0
People's Union 159,096 3.05 2 +2
National Movement 26,211 0.65 0 New
Independent Party 21,421 0.41 0 New
National Union of Independents 21,421 0.41 0 New
Liberal Dissidents 7,711 0.15 0 New
National Rally 5,425 0.10 0 New
National Party 4,457 0.09 0 New
Walloon Unity 3,478 0.07 0 New
Francophone Bloc 1,947 0.04 0 New
Independents 36,646 0.70 0 0
Invalid/blank votes 349,475 – – –
Total 5,573,982 100 106 0
Registered voters/turnout 6,036,165 92.34 – –
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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