1954 Belgian general election

1954 Belgian general election

11 April 1954
212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jean Van Houtte Achille Van Acker Henri Liebaert Party Christian Social Socialist Liberal Leader since Candidate for PM Candidate for PM 1953 Last election 108 seats, 47.68% 73 seats, 34.51% 20 seats, 11.25% Seats won 95 82 24 Seat change 13 9 4 Popular vote 2,123,408 1,927,015 626,983 Percentage 41.15% 37.34% 12.15% Swing 6.53% 2.83% 0.90%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader N/A Edgard Lalmand Walter Couvreur Party LSK PVDA-PTB CVV Leader since N/A 1943 1954 Last election 4 seats, 1.77% 7 seats, 4.75% New Seats won 5 4 1 Seat change 1 3 New Popular vote 108,175 184,108 113,632 Percentage 2.10% 3.57% 2.20% Swing 0.33% 1.18% New
Chamber seat distribution by constituency
Government before election van Houtte Christian Social Government after election van Acker IV BSP/PSB-Lib

General elections were held in Belgium on 11 April 1954. The dominant Christian Social Party won 95 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 49 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 93.2%. Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.

The outgoing Catholic government led by Jean Van Houtte lost their majority in parliament. The two other main parties, the Socialist and Liberal Party, subsequently formed a rare "purple" government with Achille Van Acker as Prime Minister. Both parties had an anti-clerical agenda and aimed to reverse policies of the Catholic government regarding private schools. This would become known as the Second School War.

Results

Chamber of Deputies

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian Social Party	2,123,408	41.14	95	–13
	Belgian Socialist Party	1,927,015	37.34	82	+9
	Liberal Party	626,983	12.15	24	+4
	Communist Party of Belgium	184,108	3.57	4	–3
	Christian Flemish People's Union	113,632	2.20	1	New
	Liberal–Socialist Kartels	108,175	2.10	5	+1
	Christian Social Rally of Liberty	42,979	0.83	1	New
	Radio Antwerp	10,177	0.20	0	New
	Middle Class	9,729	0.19	0	New
	Universal People	3,139	0.06	0	New
	Veteran Combatants	1,839	0.04	0	New
	Van Wonterghem	1,817	0.04	0	New
	Liberal dissidents	1,807	0.04	0	New
	Independent Social Party	1,613	0.03	0	New
	Hubert List	1,143	0.02	0	New
	Camus List	1,001	0.02	0	New
	Independent Union	884	0.02	0	New
	European Movement	581	0.01	0	New
	Flemish Bloc	456	0.01	0	New
	Mediator	191	0.00	0	New
	Independents	246	0.00	0	0
Total		5,160,923	100.00	212	0
Valid votes		5,160,923	94.46
Invalid/blank votes		302,668	5.54
Total votes		5,463,591	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		5,863,092	93.19
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian Social Party	2,127,699	41.63	49	–5
	Belgian Socialist Party	1,915,213	37.48	42	+5
	Liberal Party	620,979	12.15	11	+1
	Communist Party of Belgium	181,843	3.56	2	–1
	Liberal–Socialist Kartels	108,966	2.13	2	0
	Christian Flemish People's Union	155,758	3.05	0	New
	People's Union			0	New
	Christian Social Rally of Liberty			0	New
	Other parties			0	–
Total		5,110,458	100.00	106	0
Registered voters/turnout		5,863,092	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Belgian Elections