1985 Belgian general election
First party
Second party
Third party
Leader
Wilfried Martens
Guy Spitaels
Karel Van Miert
Party
CVP
PS
sp.a
Leader since
Candidate for PM
1981
1978
Last election
43 seats, 19.34%
35 seats, 12.17%
26 seats, 12.36%
Seats won
49
35
32
Seat change
Popular vote
1,291,244
834,488
882,200
Percentage
21.29%
13.76%
14.55%
Swing
Fourth party
Fifth party
Sixth party
Leader
Louis Michel
Guy Verhofstadt
Gérard Deprez
Party
PRL
Open Vld
cdH
Leader since
1982
1982
1981
Last election
24 seats, 7.97%
28 seats, 12.89%
18 seats, 6.49%
Seats won
24
22
20
Seat change
Popular vote
619,390
651,806
482,254
Percentage
10.21%
10.75%
7.95%
Swing
Colours denote the winning party in each electoral district (for the Chamber of Deputies).
General elections were held in Belgium on 13 October 1985. The Christian People's Party emerged as the largest party, with 49 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 25 of the 106 seats in the Senate . Elections to the nine provincial councils were also held.
The incumbent government was a coalition of Christian democrats (CVP/PSC) and liberals (PVV/PRL) led by Prime Minister Wilfried Martens . Following the elections, the same parties formed a new Martens Government. Guy Verhofstadt , PVV leader since 1982, was elected for the first time as representative. Despite PVV being the only governing party to lose seats, he was able to weigh on the government agreement and he became Deputy Prime Minister in the Martens VI Government. The government would fall two years later due to the Voeren issue; distrust of labour unions in Verhofstadt proved to be a factor as well.
Results [ ] Chamber of Deputies [ ]
Party
Votes
%
Seats
+/–
Christian People's Party (CVP)1,291,244
21.29
49
+6
Socialistische Partij (SP)882,200
14.55
32
+6
Parti Socialiste (PS)834,488
13.76
35
0
Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV)651,806
10.75
22
–6
Liberal Reformist Party (PRL)619,390
10.21
24
0
Social Christian Party (PSC)482,254
7.95
20
+2
People's Union (VU)477,755
7.88
16
–4
Agalev 226,758
3.74
4
+2
Ecolo 152,483
2.51
5
+3
Vlaams Blok 85,391
1.41
1
0
Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones (FDF)72,361
1.19
3
–
Communist Party of Belgium 71,695
1.18
0
–2
69,707
1.15
1
–2
Workers' Party of Belgium 46,034
0.76
0
0
SEP
31,983
1.53
0
New
SAP/POS
13,681
0.23
0
New
Groen
9,719
0.16
0
New
PW
9,284
0.15
0
New
Forces
8,221
0.14
0
New
UND
6,609
0.11
0
New
Party of German-speaking Belgians 5,228
0.09
0
0
NF–FN
3,738
0.06
0
New
PLC
3,442
0.06
0
New
NCP/PCN
1,763
0.03
0
New
Zomaar
1,630
0.03
0
New
PFU
1,201
0.02
0
0
UPW
828
0.01
0
New
VVP
678
0.01
0
New
Charlier
655
0.01
0
New
GIOT
640
0.01
0
New
HP–PH
518
0.01
0
New
AAT
464
0.01
0
New
SDU-USD
412
0.01
0
New
Invalid/blank votes
487,974
–
–
–
Total 6,552,234 100 212 0
Registered voters/turnout
7,001,297
93.59
–
–
Source: Belgian Election Results
Senate [ ]
Party
Votes
%
Seats
+/–
Christian People's Party 1,260,113
21.02
25
+3
Socialistische Partij 868,624
14.49
16
+3
Parti Socialiste 832,792
13.89
18
0
Party for Freedom and Progress 637,776
10.64
11
–3
Liberal Reformist Party 588,373
9.82
13
+2
People's Union 484,996
8.09
8
–2
Social Christian Party 475,119
7.93
10
+2
Agalev 229,206
3.82
2
+1
Ecolo 163,361
2.73
2
–1
Vlaams Blok 90,120
1.50
0
0
73,045
1.22
0
–1
Communist Party of Belgium 71,020
1.18
0
–1
Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones 70,239
1.17
1
–
Workers' Party of Belgium 44,799
0.75
0
0
SEP
33,554
0.56
0
New
SAP/POS
16,786
0.28
0
New
Groen
10,988
0.18
0
New
PW
10,539
0.18
0
New
Forces
9,318
0.16
0
New
UND
7,200
0.12
0
New
Party of German-speaking Belgians 5,364
0.09
0
New
NF–FN
4,201
0.07
0
New
PLC
3,267
0.05
0
New
PFU
1,430
0.02
0
0
NCP/PCN
1,312
0.02
0
New
VVP
446
0.01
0
New
Paix
443
0.01
0
0
Invalid/blank votes
558,259
–
–
–
Total 6,552,690 100 106 0
Registered voters/turnout
7,001,297
93.59
–
–
Source: Election Results
References [ ]
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