1958 Belgian general election

1 June 1958

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 Increase 9 Decrease 2 Decrease 4
Popular vote 2,465,549 1,897,646 585,999
Percentage 46.50% 35.79% 11.05%
Swing Increase 5.35% Decrease 1.55% Decrease 1.10%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader N/A Ernest Burnelle Frans Van der Elst
Party LSK PVDA-PTB 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 Steady Decrease 2 New
Popular vote 111,284 100,145 104,823
Percentage 2.10% 1.89% 1.98%
Swing Steady Decrease 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

General elections were held in Belgium on 1 June 1958.[1] 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.[2] Voter turnout was 93.6% in the Chamber election and 93.7% in the Senate election.[3] 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

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian Social Party2,465,54946.50104+9
Belgian Socialist Party1,897,64635.7980–2
Liberal Party585,99911.0520–4
Liberal–Socialist Kartels111,2842.1050
People's Union104,8231.981New
Communist Party of Belgium100,1451.892–2
Other parties36,9070.700
Total5,302,353100.002120
Valid votes5,302,35395.11
Invalid/blank votes272,7744.89
Total votes5,575,127100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,954,85893.62
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Senate

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Christian Social Party2,478,15347.1253+4
Belgian Socialist Party1,886,24235.8740–2
Liberal Party574,23010.9210–1
Liberal–Socialist Kartels111,2992.1220
Communist Party of Belgium100,7881.921–1
People's Union84,3641.6000
Democratic Party23,9530.460
Independents0
Total5,259,029100.001060
Valid votes5,259,02994.26
Invalid/blank votes320,0965.74
Total votes5,579,125100.00
Registered voters/turnout5,954,85893.69
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Belgian Elections

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p289 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, pp309-311
  3. Nohlen & Stöver, p291
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