1961 Belgian general election

← 1958

26 March 1961

1965 →

212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Théo Lefèvre	Léo Collard	Roger Motz
Party	Christian Social	Socialist	Liberal
Leader since	Candidate for PM	1959	1958
Last election	104 seats, 46.50%	80 seats, 35.79%	20 seats, 11.05%
Seats won	96	84	20
Seat change	8	4
Popular vote	2,182,642	1,933,424	649,376
Percentage	41.46%	36.72%	12.33%
Swing	5.04%	0.93%	1.28%

	Fourth party	Fifth party	Sixth party

Leader	Frans Van der Elst	Ernest Burnelle	Jean-Marie Evrard
Party	VU	Communist	RN
Leader since	1955	1954	1959
Last election	1 seat, 1.98%	2 seats, 1.89%	New
Seats won	5	5	1
Seat change	4	3	New
Popular vote	182,407	162,238	42,450
Percentage	3.46%	3.08%	0.81%
Swing	1.48%	1.19%	New

Chamber seat distribution by constituency

Government before election

G. Eyskens IV
CVP/PSC-Lib

Government after election

Lefèvre
CVP/PSC-BSP/PSB

Politics of Belgium


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v t e

General elections were held in Belgium on 26 March 1961. The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 96 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 47 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 92.3%. Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.

Prior to the elections, the centre-right government of the Christian Social and Liberal Party led by Gaston Eyskens pushed through austerity measures with a law known as the Eenheidswet or Loi Unique, despite heavy strikes in the preceding weeks, especially in Wallonia. After the elections, the Christian Democrats formed a new government with the Socialist Party instead of the Liberal Party, with Théo Lefèvre as Prime Minister.

Results

Chamber of Deputies



Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian Social Party	2,182,642	41.46	96	–8
	Belgian Socialist Party	1,933,424	36.72	84	+4
	Liberal Party	649,376	12.33	20	0
	People's Union	182,407	3.46	5	+4
	Communist Party of Belgium	162,238	3.08	5	+3
	National Rally	42,450	0.81	1	New
	Independent Party	33,174	0.63	0	New
	National Union of Independents	12,252	0.23	0	New
	National Party	4,375	0.08	0	New
	Liberal dissidents	3,956	0.08	0	New
	Walloon Unity	3,466	0.07	0	New
	Alleenstaande	3,101	0.06	0	New
	Zelfstandig	2,307	0.04	0	New
	Francophone Bloc	1,824	0.03	0	New
	Gekavemus	604	0.01	0	New
	Independent Workers	551	0.01	0	New
	Universal People	480	0.01	0	New
	EC Group	154	0.00	0	New
	Independents	46,244	0.88	1	+1
Total		5,265,025	100.00	212	0

Valid votes		5,265,025	94.46
Invalid/blank votes		308,815	5.54
Total votes		5,573,840	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,036,165	92.34
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate



Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian Social Party	2,200,323	42.12	47	–6
	Belgian Socialist Party	1,924,605	36.84	45	+5
	Liberal Party	637,922	12.21	11	+1
	Communist Party of Belgium	163,576	3.13	1	0
	People's Union	159,096	3.05	2	+2
	National Movement	26,211	0.50	0	New
	Independent Party	21,421	0.41	0	New
	National Union of Independents	13,284	0.25	0	New
	Liberal dissidents	7,711	0.15	0	New
	National Rally	5,425	0.10	0	New
	National Party	4,457	0.09	0	New
	Walloon Unity	3,478	0.07	0	New
	Francophone Bloc	1,947	0.04	0	New
	Other parties	18,405	0.35	0	–
	Independents	36,646	0.70	0	0
Total		5,224,507	100.00	106	0

Valid votes		5,224,507	93.73
Invalid/blank votes		349,475	6.27
Total votes		5,573,982	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,036,165	92.34
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/abgeordnetenkammer/1961/k%C3%B6nigreich/157384
https://wahlergebnisse.belgium.be/de/election-results/senat/1961/k%C3%B6nigreich/161238

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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