1958 Belgian general election

← 1954

1 June 1958

1961 →

212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Gaston Eyskens	Achille Van Acker	Maurice Destenay
Party	Christian Social	Socialist	Liberal
Leader since	Candidate for PM	Candidate for PM	1954
Last election	95 seats, 41.15%	82 seats, 37.34%	24 seats, 12.15%
Seats won	104	80	20
Seat change	9	2	4
Popular vote	2,465,549	1,897,646	585,999
Percentage	46.50%	35.79%	11.05%
Swing	5.35%	1.55%	1.10%

	Fourth party	Fifth party	Sixth party

Leader	N/A	Ernest Burnelle	Frans Van der Elst
Party	LSK	Communist	VU
Leader since	N/A	1954	1955
Last election	5 seats, 2.10%	4 seats, 3.57%	New
Seats won	5	2	1
Seat change		2	New
Popular vote	111,284	100,145	104,823
Percentage	2.10%	1.89%	1.98%
Swing		1.68%	New

Chamber seat distribution by constituency

Government before election

van Acker IV
BSP/PSB-Lib

Government after election

G. Eyskens II
Christian Social

Politics of Belgium


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v t e

General elections were held in Belgium on 1 June 1958. The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 104 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 53 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 93.6% in the Chamber election and 93.7% in the Senate election. Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.

The election took place in a political crisis known as the Second School War. The outgoing anti-clerical "purple" government of the Socialist and Liberal Party, led by Achille Van Acker, reversed policies of the previous Catholic-led government regarding private schools. The Van Acker government lost the election, leading again to a Catholic government led by Gaston Eyskens. That government, which was a few seats short of a majority in the Chamber, would be the last single-party government in Belgian history. Later in 1958, the School War was ended by a cross-party agreement and the Liberal Party joined the government.

Results

Chamber of Deputies



Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian Social Party	2,465,549	46.50	104	+9
	Belgian Socialist Party	1,897,646	35.79	80	–2
	Liberal Party	585,999	11.05	20	–4
	Liberal–Socialist Kartels	111,284	2.10	5	0
	People's Union	104,823	1.98	1	New
	Communist Party of Belgium	100,145	1.89	2	–2
	Other parties	36,907	0.70	0	–
Total		5,302,353	100.00	212	0

Valid votes		5,302,353	95.11
Invalid/blank votes		272,774	4.89
Total votes		5,575,127	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		5,954,858	93.62
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Senate



Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian Social Party	2,478,153	47.12	53	+4
	Belgian Socialist Party	1,886,242	35.87	40	–2
	Liberal Party	574,230	10.92	10	–1
	Liberal–Socialist Kartels	111,299	2.12	2	0
	Communist Party of Belgium	100,788	1.92	1	–1
	People's Union	84,364	1.60	0	0
	Democratic Party	23,953	0.46	0	–
	Independents	23,953	0.46	0	–
Total		5,259,029	100.00	106	0

Valid votes		5,259,029	94.26
Invalid/blank votes		320,096	5.74
Total votes		5,579,125	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		5,954,858	93.69
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Belgian Elections

References

Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p289 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
Nohlen & Stöver, pp309-311
Nohlen & Stöver, p291
https://wahlergebnisse.belgium.be/de/election-results/senat/1958/k%C3%B6nigreich/162339

v t e Elections and referendums in Belgium (list)
General/federal elections	1830 1831 1833 1835 1837 1839 1841 1843 1845 1847 1848 1850 1851 1852 1854 1855 1856 1857 1859 1861 1863 1864 1866 1867 1868 1870 (Jun) 1870 (Aug) 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1919 1921 1925 1929 1932 1936 1939 1946 1949 1950 1954 1958 1961 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1978 1981 1985 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2010 2014 2019 2024
Regional elections	1974 1977 1978 1981 1986 1989 1990 1995 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2024
Provincial elections	1949 1950 1954 1958 1961 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1978 1981 1985 1987 1991 1994 2000 2006 2012 2018 2024
Municipal elections	1976 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 2012 2018 2024
European elections	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2024
Referendums	1950

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