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

← 1939 17 February 1946 (1946-02-17) 1949 →

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 Increase19 Increase5 Increase14
Popular vote 1,006,293 746,738 300,099
Percentage 42.54% 31.57% 12.69%
Swing Increase8.96% Increase2.13% Increase8.04%

  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 Decrease16 Increase1
Popular vote 211,143 51,095
Percentage 8.93% 2.16%
Swing Decrease8.25 Increase2.16%

Seats by constituency

Government before election

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

Government after election

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.

Following the elections, Paul-Henri Spaak formed a Socialist minority government supported by the Communists. After he failed to win the confidence of the Christian Social and Liberal parties, outgoing PM Achille Van Acker formed a new government which included Socialists, Communists and Liberals.

Results

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Chamber of Deputies

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PartyVotes%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 of Trades3,3600.140
FRENSSEN2,4800.100
Walloon Unity Party1,7740.070
Belgian People's Movement8650.040
Resistant6760.030
Middle Classes2740.010
Belgian Free Independents2120.010
Independents2,7850.120
Total2,365,638100.00202
Valid votes2,365,63896.14
Invalid/blank votes94,9713.86
Total votes2,460,609100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,724,79690.30
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

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PartyVotes%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 of Trades3,7640.160
Demarrez3,7530.160
Independents3,8660.170
Total2,338,255100.00101
Valid votes2,338,25595.63
Invalid/blank votes106,7674.37
Total votes2,445,022100.00
Source: Belgian Elections

References

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  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