1985 Belgian general election

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.

1985 Belgian general election

13 October 1985

212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Wilfried Martens Guy Spitaels Karel Van Miert
Party CVP PS SP
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 6 6
Popular vote 1,291,244 834,488 882,200
Percentage 21.29% 13.76% 14.55%
Swing 1.95% 1.59% 2.19%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Louis Michel Guy Verhofstadt Gérard Deprez
Party PRL PVV PSC
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 6 2
Popular vote 619,390 651,806 482,254
Percentage 10.21% 10.75% 7.95%
Swing 2.24% 2.14% 1.50%

Colours denote the winning party in each electoral district (for the Chamber of Deputies).

Government before election

Martens V
CVP-PSC-PVV-PRL

Elected Government

Martens VI
CVP-PSC-PVV-PRL

Prime Minister Martens

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

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian People's Party (CVP)1,291,24421.2949+6
Socialistische Partij (SP)882,20014.5532+6
Parti Socialiste (PS)834,48813.76350
Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV)651,80610.7522–6
Liberal Reformist Party (PRL)619,39010.21240
Social Christian Party (PSC)482,2547.9520+2
People's Union (VU)477,7557.8816–4
Agalev226,7583.744+2
Ecolo152,4832.515+3
Vlaams Blok85,3911.4110
Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones (FDF)72,3611.193
Communist Party of Belgium71,6951.180–2
UDRT/RAD69,7071.151–2
Workers' Party of Belgium46,0340.7600
SEP31,9831.530New
SAP/POS13,6810.230New
Groen9,7190.160New
PW9,2840.150New
Forces8,2210.140New
UND6,6090.110New
Party of German-speaking Belgians5,2280.0900
NF–FN3,7380.060New
PLC3,4420.060New
NCP/PCN1,7630.030New
Zomaar1,6300.030New
PFU1,2010.0200
UPW8280.010New
VVP6780.010New
Charlier6550.010New
GIOT6400.010New
HP–PH5180.010New
AAT4640.010New
SDU-USD4120.010New
Invalid/blank votes487,974
Total6,552,2341002120
Registered voters/turnout7,001,29793.59
Source: Belgian Election Results

Senate

Party Votes % Seats +/–
Christian People's Party1,260,11321.0225+3
Socialistische Partij868,62414.4916+3
Parti Socialiste832,79213.89180
Party for Freedom and Progress637,77610.6411–3
Liberal Reformist Party588,3739.8213+2
People's Union484,9968.098–2
Social Christian Party475,1197.9310+2
Agalev229,2063.822+1
Ecolo163,3612.732–1
Vlaams Blok90,1201.5000
UDRT/RAD73,0451.220–1
Communist Party of Belgium71,0201.180–1
Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones70,2391.171
Workers' Party of Belgium44,7990.7500
SEP33,5540.560New
SAP/POS16,7860.280New
Groen10,9880.180New
PW10,5390.180New
Forces9,3180.160New
UND7,2000.120New
Party of German-speaking Belgians5,3640.090New
NF–FN4,2010.070New
PLC3,2670.050New
PFU1,4300.0200
NCP/PCN1,3120.020New
VVP4460.010New
Paix4430.0100
Invalid/blank votes558,259
Total6,552,6901001060
Registered voters/turnout7,001,29793.59
Source: Election Results

References

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