Belgian general election, 1949

Belgian general election, 1949

26 June 1949 (1949-06-26)
All 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives 106 seats in the Senate 107 (Chamber) seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Gaston Eyskens Paul-Henri Spaak Party Christian Social Socialist Leader since Candidate for PM Candidate for PM Last election 92 seats, 42.54% 69 seats, 31.57% Seats won 105 66 Seat change 13 3 Popular vote 2,190,895 1,496,539 Percentage 43.55% 29.76% Swing 1.01% 1.81%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Roger Motz Julien Lahaut Party Liberal Communist Leader since 1945 1945 Last election 17 seats, 8.93% 23 seats, 12.69% Seats won 29 12 Seat change 12 11 Popular vote 767,180 376,765 Percentage 15.25% 7.49% Swing 6.32% 5.20%
Prime Minister before election Paul-Henri Spaak Socialist Prime Minister Gaston Eyskens Christian Social

General elections were held in Belgium on 26 June 1949.^[1] Several reforms took effect prior to the elections; they were the first after the introduction of universal women's suffrage; the number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives was increased from 202 to 212, and from now on, elections for the nine provincial councils were held simultaneously with parliamentary elections. The number of Chamber seats and the simultaneous provincial and parliamentary elections would remain unchanged until state reforms in 1993.

The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 105 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 54 of the 106 seats in the Senate.^[2] Voter turnout was 94.4%.^[3]

Results

Constituencies

The distribution of seats among the electoral districts of the Chamber of Representatives was as follows.^[4] Several arrondissements got one or more additional seats.

References