1971 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 7 November 1971.[1] The result was a victory for the Christian People's Party, which won 40 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 34 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 91.5%.[2] Elections to the nine provincial councils were also held.

1971 Belgian general election

7 November 1971

212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Gaston Eyskens Jos Van Eynde Edmond Leburton
Party CVP Socialist Socialist
Leader since Candidate for PM 1971 1971
Last election New 59 seats, 27.10%[a] 59 seats, 27.10%[a]
Seats won 40 25 25
Seat change New 34 34
Popular vote 967,701 623,395 549,483
Percentage 18.32% 11.80% 10.40%
Swing New 15.30% 16.70%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Frans Van der Elst Pierre Descamps Robert J. Houben
Party VU PVV PSC
Leader since 1955 1969 1966
Last election 20 seats, 9.79% 47 seats, 20.87% New
Seats won 21 16 15
Seat change 1 31 New
Popular vote 586,917 392,130 327,393
Percentage 11.11% 7.42% 6.20%
Swing 1.32% 13.45% New

Colours denote the winning party in each electoral district (for the Chamber of Deputies).
a Beginning in 1971, the Belgian Socialist Party ran as separate lists for Flanders and Wallonia, however they still existed as a single party, hence why both show their previous united results.

Government before election

G. Eyskens V
CVP-PSC-BSP/PSB

Elected Government

G. Eyskens V
CVP-PSC-BSP/PSB

The linguistic issues led to the splitting of the major parties into separate Flemish and Francophone parties. Consequently the election returned a very fragmented parliament.

The election followed the first state reform, with the creation of three cultural communities. The newly elected members of parliament would thus also serve in the newly established cultural councils.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian People's Party (CVP)967,70118.3240New
Belgian Socialist Party (Flanders) (BSP)623,39511.8025New
People's Union (Volksunie)586,91711.1121+1
Belgian Socialist Party (Wallonia) (PSB)549,48310.4025New
Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV)392,1307.4216New
Christian Social Party (PSC)327,3936.2015New
Walloon Rally (RW)306,6065.8112+6
PSC-CVP292,1015.5312−57
FDF-RW286,6395.4312New
Party for Freedom and Progress (Wallonia) (PLP)275,7765.2211New
Belgian Socialist Party (Brussels)162,8523.087New
PVV/PLP107,6152.044–43
Red Lions104,0401.974+4
Communist Party (Wallonia) (PC)91,7261.744New
Party for Freedom and Progress (Brussels)90,1341.713New
Communist Party (Flanders) (KP)67,4871.281New
LOB-LIB21,9190.420New
Onaf Christ7,8010.150New
LVV2,7400.050New
Trotskyists2,6600.0500
Catholic Greater Netherlands Folkish Social Struggle (Kaganovemus)2,5800.050New
PCB2,3040.0400
Van Meerhage2,0040.040New
Z Kleur1,5470.0300
DPU1,5340.030New
Francophone Party1,4710.030New
New Party8990.020New
U Verbruik6400.010New
Dieferenbes6330.0100
De Keyzer5650.010New
R D Wal3390.010New
Invalid/blank votes459,637
Total5,741,2681002120
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
CVP-PSC1,547,85329.7034+5
Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV-PLP)776,51414.9015−7
Belgian Socialist Party (Wallonia) (PSB)710,43713.6316New
Belgian Socialist Party (Flanders) (BSP)615,80511.826New
FDF-RW598,76811.496+1
People's Union (Volksunie)592,50911.3712+3
Communist Party of Belgium (KPB-PCB)106,7992.051−1
BSPRed Lions97,3711.870New
Liberal Democrat and Pluralist Party81,1331.562New
UDP61,6161.180New
LIB-LOB15,1380.290New
Kaganovemus3,8000.0700
LVV3,1590.060New
Valentyn5130.010New
Invalid/blank votes415,246
Total5,626,6611001060
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, p291
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