1946 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 17 February 1946.[1] The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 92 of the 202 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 51 of the 101 seats in the Senate.[2] Voter turnout was 90.3%.[3]

1946 Belgian general election

17 February 1946 (1946-02-17)

All 202 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
102 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Hubert Pierlot Paul-Henri Spaak Julien Lahaut
Party Christian Social Socialist Communist
Leader since Candidate for PM? Candidate for PM 1945
Last election 73 seats, 33.58% 64 seats, 29.44% 9 seats, 4.65%
Seats won 92 69 23
Seat change 19 5 14
Popular vote 1,006,293 746,738 300,099
Percentage 42.54% 31.57% 12.69%
Swing 8.96% 2.13% 8.04%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Roger Motz Pierre Clerdent
Antoine Delfosse
Party Liberal Democratic Union
Leader since 1945 1945
Last election 33 seats, 17.18% New party
Seats won 17 1
Seat change 16 1
Popular vote 211,143 51,095
Percentage 8.93% 2.16%
Swing 8.25 2.16%

Government before election

van Acker II
BSP/PSB-Lib-UDB-KPB/PCB

Elected Government

Spaak II
BSP/PSB

They were the first elections after the Second World War and saw fundamental changes among the political parties. The Flemish National Union, which held 17 seats prior to the war and collaborated with Nazi Germany during the war, was outlawed. The Catholic Party changed into the Christian Social Party while the Belgian Labour Party changed into the Belgian Socialist Party. The Liberal Party suffered major losses, while the Christian Social Party and the Communist Party made major gains. Despite this, the Socialist Party led by Paul-Henri Spaak formed a minority government, which fell shortly after.

Results

Chamber of Deputies

Party Votes % Seats
Christian Social Party1,006,29342.5492
Belgian Socialist Party746,73831.5769
Communist Party of Belgium300,09912.6923
Liberal Party211,1438.9317
Belgian Democratic Union51,0952.161
Liberal-Socialist Kartels37,8441.600
Union des métiers3,3600.140
FRENSSEN2,4800.100
Independents2,7850.120
Walloon Unity Party1,7740.070
Belgian People's Movement8650.040
Resistant6760.030
Middle Classes2740.010
Belgian Free Independents2120.010
Invalid/blank votes94,971
Total2,460,609100202
Registered voters/turnout2,724,79690.30
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

Party Votes % Seats
Christian Social Party999,26442.7451
Belgian Socialist Party729,94331.2234
Communist Party of Belgium300,65512.8611
Liberal Party214,8379.194
Belgian Democratic Union48,4412.070
Liberal-Socialist Kartels33,7321.441
Union des métiers3,7640.160
Demarrez3,7530.160
Independents3,8660.170
Invalid/blank votes106,767
Total2,445,022100101
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, p290
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