1991 Belgian general election

1991 Belgian general election

24 November 1991
212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives All 70 seats in the Senate
First party Second party Third party   PS Leader Wilfried Martens Guy Spitaels Frank Vandenbroucke Party CVP PS sp.a Leader since Candidate for PM 1981 1989 Last election 43 seats, 19.5% 40 seats, 15.6% 32 seats, 14.9% Seats won 39 35 28 Seat change 4 5 4 Popular vote 1,035,165 831,199 737,976 Percentage 16.8% 13.5% 12.0% Swing 2.7% 2.1% 2.9%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   PRL Leader Guy Verhofstadt Antoine Duquesne and Daniel Ducarme Gérard Deprez Party Open Vld PRL cdH Leader since 1989 1990 1981 Last election 25 seats, 11.5% 23 seats, 9.4% 19 seats, 8.0% Seats won 26 20 18 Seat change 1 3 1 Popular vote 738,016 501,647 476,470 Percentage 12.0% 8.1% 7.7% Swing 0.5% 1.3% 0.3%
Colours denote the winning party in each electoral district, as shown in the table of results.
Government before election Martens IX CVP-PSC-PS-SP Government after election Martens IX CVP-PSC-PS-SP

General elections were held in Belgium on 24 November 1991 to elect members of the Chamber of Representatives and Senate. The results represented a big loss for the majority parties (Christian democrats and Socialists) and significant gains for the Vlaams Blok. The day became known as "black Sunday" due to the rise of the far-right party.

These were the last elections before the new 1993 Belgian Constitution, which turned Belgium formally into a federal state: after this election, the number of MPs were reduced while the regional parliaments would become directly elected. The provincial elections would no longer coincide with national elections, but with municipal elections.

By law of 16 July 1991, experiments with electronic voting were carried out for the first time in Belgium during these elections, specifically in the canton of Verlaine (Liège Province) and the canton of Waarschoot (province of East Flanders).

Chamber of Representatives

Elections Belgian chamber 24/11/1991

Party		Total			Dutch-speaking electoral college			French-speaking electoral college
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Christian People Party (CVP)	1,036,165	16.8	39	1,036,165		39
	Socialist Party (PS)	831,199	13.5	35				831,199		35
	Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV)	738,016	12.0	26	738,016		26
	Socialist Party (SP)	737,976	12.0	28	737,976		28
	Liberal Reform Party (PRL)	501,647	8.1	20				501,647		20
	Christian Social Party (PSC)	476,730	7.7	18				476,730		18
	Flemish Bloc (VB)	405,247	6.6	12	405,247		12
	People's Union (VU)	363,124	5.9	10	363,124		10
	Ecolo	312,624	5.1	10				312,624		10
	Agalev	299,550	4.9	7	299,550		7
	ROSSEM	198,182	3.2	3	198,182		3
	Democratic Front of the Francophones (FDF)/PPW	90,813	1,5	3				90,813		3
	National Front (FN)	64,992	1.1	1				64,992		1
	Workers' Party (PVDA/PTB)	30,491	0.5	—			—			—
	B.E.B.	15,429	0.3%	-
	REGEBO	11,944	0.2%	-
	Agir	11,189	0.2%	-
	PC	5,706	0.1%	-
	Socialist Workers' Party (SAP/POS)	5,243	0.1%	-
	V.D.	4,467	0.1%	-
	Walloon Rally	756	0.1%	-
	Total	6,162,160	100	212		100			100

Senate

Elections Belgian Senate 24/11/1991

Party	Votes	Percentage	Seats
total	6,117,614	100%	70
CVP	1,028,699	16.8%	20
PS	814,136	13.2%	18
SP	730,274	11.9%	14
PVV	713,542	11.7%	13
PRL	496,562	8.1%	9
PSC	483,961	7.9%	9
Vlaams Blok	414,481	6.8%	5
Volksunie	365,173	6.0%	5
Ecolo	323,683	5.3%	6
Agalev	314,360	5.1%	5
ROSSEM	196,052	3.2%	1
FDF/PPW	86,026	1.4%	1
FN	60,876	1.0%	-
PVDA/PTB	31,754	0.5%	-
B.E.B.	15,893	0.3%	-
REGEBO	12,150	0.2%	-
PC	6,552	0.1%	-
SAP/POS	6,485	0.1%	-
V.D.	4,228	0.1%	-
RW	3,441	0.1%	-