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1954 Belgian general election
First party
Second party
Third party
File:Achille Van Acker.jpg
Leader
Jean Van Houtte
Achille Van Acker
Henri Liebaert
Party
Christian Social
Socialist
Liberal
Leader since
Candidate for PM
Candidate for PM
1953
Last election
108 seats, 47.68%
73 seats, 34.51%
20 seats, 11.25%
Seats won
95
82
24
Seat change
13
9
4
Popular vote
2,123,408
1,927,015
626,983
Percentage
41.15%
37.34%
12.15%
Swing
6.53%
2.83%
0.90%
Fourth party
Fifth party
Sixth party
Leader
N/A
Edgard Lalmand
Walter Couvreur
Party
LSK
PVDA-PTB
CVV
Leader since
N/A
1943
1954
Last election
4 seats, 1.77%
7 seats, 4.75%
New
Seats won
5
4
1
Seat change
1
3
New
Popular vote
108,175
184,108
113,632
Percentage
2.10%
3.57%
2.20%
Swing
0.33%
1.18%
New
Chamber seat distribution by constituency
General elections were held in Belgium on 11 April 1954.[ 1] The dominant Christian Social Party won 95 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 49 of the 106 seats in the Senate .[ 2] Voter turnout was 93.2%.[ 3] Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.
The outgoing Catholic government led by Jean Van Houtte lost their majority in parliament. The two other main parties, the Socialist and Liberal Party, subsequently formed a rare "purple" government with Achille Van Acker as Prime Minister. Both parties had an anti-clerical agenda and aimed to reverse policies of the Catholic government regarding private schools. This would become known as the Second School War .
Results
Chamber of Deputies
Party
Votes
%
Seats
+/–
Christian Social Party
2,123,408
41.15
95
–13
Belgian Socialist Party
1,927,015
37.34
82
+9
Liberal Party
626,983
12.15
24
+4
Communist Party of Belgium
184,108
3.57
4
–3
Christian Flemish People's Union
113,632
2.20
1
New
Liberal-Socialist Kartels
108,175
2.10
5
+1
Christian Social Rally of Liberty
42,979
0.83
1
New
Radio Antwerp
10,177
0.20
0
New
Middle Class
9,729
0.19
0
New
Universal People
3,139
0.06
0
New
Veteran Combatants
1,839
0.04
0
New
Van Wonterghem
1,817
0.04
0
New
Liberal Dissidents
1,807
0.04
0
New
Independent Social Party
1,613
0.03
0
New
Hubert List
1,143
0.02
0
New
Camus List
1,001
0.02
0
New
Independent Union
884
0.02
0
New
European Movement
581
0.01
0
New
Flemish Bloc
456
0.01
0
New
Mediator
191
0.00
0
New
Independents
246
0.00
0
0
Invalid/blank votes
302,668
–
–
–
Total
5,463,154
100
212
0
Registered voters/turnout
5,863,092
93.18
–
–
Source: Belgian Elections
Senate
Party
Votes
%
Seats
+/–
Christian Social Party
2,387,828
42.80
49
–5
Belgian Socialist Party
2,047,265
36.70
42
+5
Liberal Party
676,689
12.13
11
+1
Communist Party of Belgium
187,840
3.37
2
–1
Liberal-Socialist Kartels
108,966
1.95
2
0
Christian Flemish People's Union
82,862
1.49
0
New
People's Union
36,564
0.66
0
New
Christian Social Rally of Liberty
32,333
0.58
0
New
Other parties
14,661
0.26
0
–
Invalid/blank votes
286,541
–
–
–
Total
5,965,130
100
106
0
Registered voters/turnout
5,863,092
101.74
–
–
Source: Belgian Elections
References