1971 Belgian general election

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7 November 1971

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All 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Jos Van Eynde [nl] Edmond Leburton	Gaston Eyskens	Pierre Descamps
Party	Socialist	CVP	PVV-PLP
Last election	27.10%, 59 seats	–	20.87%, 47 seats
Seats won	57	40	34
Seat change	2	New	13
Popular vote	1,335,730	967,701	865,655
Percentage	25.29%	18.32%	16.39%
Swing	1.81pp	New	4.48pp

	Fourth party	Fifth party

Leader	Frans Van der Elst	Robert J. Houben
Party	VU	PSC
Last election	9.79%, 20 seats	–
Seats won	21	15
Seat change	1	New
Popular vote	586,917	327,393
Percentage	11.11%	6.20%
Swing	1.32pp	New

Results by constituency for the Chamber of Representatives

Government before election

G. Eyskens V
CVP-PSC-BSP/PSB

Government after election

G. Eyskens V
CVP-PSC-BSP/PSB

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v t e

General elections were held in Belgium on 7 November 1971. The result was a victory for the Christian People's Party, which won 40 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 34 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 91.5%. Elections to the nine provincial councils were also held.

The linguistic issues led to the splitting of the major parties into separate Flemish and Francophone parties. Consequently the election returned a very fragmented parliament.

The election followed the first state reform, with the creation of three cultural communities. The newly elected members of parliament would thus also serve in the newly established cultural councils.

Results

Chamber of Representatives



Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Belgian Socialist Party	1,335,730	25.29	57	–2
	Christian People's Party	967,701	18.32	40	New
	Party for Freedom and Progress	865,655	16.39	34	–13
	People's Union	586,917	11.11	21	+1
	Christian Social Party	327,393	6.20	15	New
	Walloon Rally	306,606	5.81	12	+6
	PSC–CVP	292,101	5.53	12	−57
	FDF–Walloon Rally	286,639	5.43	12	New
	Communist Party	161,517	3.06	5	0
	Red Lions	104,040	1.97	4	+4
	Independent Liberal Party	21,919	0.42	0	New
	Independent Christians	7,801	0.15	0	New
	Liberal Flemish People's Party	2,740	0.05	0	New
	Trotskyists	2,660	0.05	0	0
	Kaganovemus	2,580	0.05	0	New
	Van Meerhage	2,004	0.04	0	New
	Z Kleur	1,547	0.03	0	0
	Democratic and Progressive Union	1,534	0.03	0	New
	Francophone Party	1,471	0.03	0	New
	New Party	899	0.02	0	New
	U Verbruik	640	0.01	0	New
	Dieferenbes	633	0.01	0	0
	De Keyzer	565	0.01	0	New
	R D Wal	339	0.01	0	New
Total		5,281,631	100.00	212	0

Valid votes		5,281,631	91.99
Invalid/blank votes		459,637	8.01
Total votes		5,741,268	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,271,240	91.55
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate


Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	CVP–PSC	1,547,853	29.70	34	+5
	Belgian Socialist Party	1,326,242	25.45	24	–9
	Party for Freedom and Progress	776,514	14.90	15	−7
	FDF–Walloon Rally	598,768	11.49	6	+1
	People's Union	592,509	11.37	12	+3
	Communist Party of Belgium	106,799	2.05	1	−1
	BSP–Red Lions	97,371	1.87	0	New
	Liberal Democrat and Pluralist Party	81,133	1.56	2	New
	Democratic and Progressive Union	61,616	1.18	0	New
	Independent Liberal Party	15,138	0.29	0	New
	Kaganovemus	3,800	0.07	0	0
	Liberal Flemish People's Party	3,159	0.06	0	New
	Valentyn	513	0.01	0	New
Total		5,211,415	100.00	94	0

Valid votes		5,211,415	92.62
Invalid/blank votes		415,246	7.38
Total votes		5,626,661	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,271,240	89.72
Source: Belgian Elections

References

Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p289 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
Nohlen & Stöver, p291
https://wahlergebnisse.belgium.be/de/election-results/abgeordnetenkammer/1971/k%C3%B6nigreich/157366
https://wahlergebnisse.belgium.be/de/election-results/senat/1971/k%C3%B6nigreich/162587

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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