1965 Belgian general election

1965 Belgian general election

← 1961 23 May 1965 1968 →
212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
First party Second party Third party   Leader Pierre Harmel Léo Collard Omer Vanaudenhove Party Christian Social Socialist Freedom and Progress Leader since Candidate for PM 1959 1961 Last election 96 seats, 41.46% 84 seats, 36.72% New Seats won 77 64 48 Seat change 19 20 New Popular vote 1,785,211 1,403,107 1,119,991 Percentage 34.45% 28.28% 21.61% Swing 7.01% 8.44% New   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Frans Van der Elst Ernest Burnelle Paul Brien Party VU PVDA-PTB DéFI Leader since 1955 1954 1964 Last election 5 seats, 3.46% 5 seats, 3.08% New Seats won 12 6 3 Seat change 7 1 New Popular vote 346,860 247,311 68,966 Percentage 6.69% 4.77% 1.33% Swing 3.23% 1.69% New
Chamber seat distribution by constituency
Government before election Lefèvre CVP/PSC-BSP/PSB Government after election Harmel CVP/PSC-BSP/PSB

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General elections were held in Belgium on 23 May 1965.^[1] The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 77 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 44 of the 106 seats in the Senate.^[2] Voter turnout was 91.6%.^[3] Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.

The elections followed the implementation of the 1962 language laws. As a result, the Flemish nationalist People's Union made big gains, as well as the new Democratic Front of the Francophones which was founded as a response to the language laws.

The election also followed the founding of the Party for Freedom and Progress, succeeding the Liberal Party. The new party aimed to reach a broader voter base, in which it succeeded by more than doubling its number of seats.

Despite both government parties losing seats, they retained their sizeable majority and continued governing.

Results[]

Chamber of Representatives[]

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Christian Social Party (CVP-PSC)	1,785,211	34.45	77	–19
Belgian Socialist Party (BSP-PSB)	1,465,503	28.28	64	–20
Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV-PLP)	1,119,991	21.61	48	+28
People's Union (Volksunie)	346,860	6.69	12	+7
Communist Party of Belgium (KPB-PCB)	247,311	4.77	6	+1
Democratic Front of the Francophones (FDF)	68,966	1.33	3	New
Communists	41,674	0.80	0	New
Walloon Front	24,245	0.47	1	New
Walloon Workers' Party	23,582	0.46	1	New
de Socialist	14,937	0.29	0	New
Catholic Party	14,007	0.27	0	New
Flemish People's Party	13,321	0.26	0	New
Walloon Communist Party	13,321	0.26	0	New
Independent Social Party	9,493	0.18	0	New
Independent Workers Union	8,680	0.17	0	New
Flemish Democrats	7,983	0.15	0	New
Walloon Democratic Front	5,709	0.11	0	New
Afzonderlijk	4,762	0.09	0	New
Francophone Union	3,776	0.07	0	New
Independent National Party	3,089	0.06	0	New
Animal Protection	2,543	0.05	0	New
Belgian Workers' Party	2,237	0.04	0	New
Independent Rally	2,213	0.04	0	New
National Party	1,889	0.04	0	0
Return to Liège	1,552	0.03	0	New
Union of Independents	1,014	0.02	0	New
Independent Middle Class	958	0.02	0	New
Kaganovemus	890	0.02	0	New
Trotsky Communists	385	0.01	0	New
New Resistance Movement	309	0.01	0	New
Independents	493	0.01	0	–1
Invalid/blank votes	396,941	–	–	–
Total	5,578,876	100	212	0
Registered voters/turnout	6,091,534	91.58	–	–
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate[]

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Christian Social Party (CVP-PSC)	1,785,191	34.89	44	–3
Belgian Socialist Party (BSP-PSB)	1,449,482	28.33	31	–14
Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV-PLP)	1,111,894	21.73	23	+12
People's Union (Volksunie)	338,770	6.62	4	+2
Communist Party of Belgium (KPB-PCB)	249,796	4.88	3	+2
Democratic Front of the Francophones (FDF)	68,397	1.34	1	New
Walloon Democratic Front	27,215	0.53	0	New
Walloon Workers' Party	21,511	0.42	0	New
Independent Social Party	12,180	0.24	0	New
Walloon Communist Party	11,600	0.23	0	New
Francophone Union	7,656	0.15	0	New
Independent Rally	7,456	0.15	0	New
Independent Workers Union	6,448	0.13	0	New
Catholic Party	5,226	0.10	0	New
Belgian Workers' Party	4,207	0.08	0	New
Independent National Party	4,066	0.08	0	New
National Party	2,885	0.06	0	0
Kaganovemus	1,739	0.03	0	New
Independent Middle Class	831	0.02	0	New
Flemish Democrats	475	0.01	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	461,584	–	–	–
Total	5,578,609	100	106	0
Registered voters/turnout	6,091,534	91.58	–	–
Source: Belgian Elections

Constituencies[]

The distribution of seats among the electoral districts was as follows for the Chamber of Representatives. Seats were reapportioned among the districts due to population growth, which was stronger in Flanders than in Wallonia, and due to several municipalities having been changed to another province following the 1962 language laws. For example, the Comines-Warneton municipalities were transferred from Ypres (West Flanders) to the newly created arrondissement of Mouscron (Hainaut), causing Ypres to lose one seat and Tournai-Ath-Mouscron to gain one seat.

References[]