Jump to content

2019 Belgian regional elections

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by DimiTalen (talk | contribs) at 07:15, 12 July 2022 (Better picture). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Map of results by constituency, province, or canton

The 2019 Belgian regional elections took place on Sunday 26 May, the same day as the 2019 European Parliament election[1] as well as the Belgian federal election.[2][3]

In the regional elections, new representatives were chosen for the Flemish Parliament, Walloon Parliament, Brussels Parliament and the Parliament of the German-speaking Community. The Parliament of the French Community was composed of all elected members of the Walloon Parliament (except German-speaking members) and 19 of the French-speaking members of the Brussels Parliament.

The elections followed the 2014 elections and were shortly after the 2018 local elections, which indicated voters' tendencies after an unusually long period of time without any elections in Belgium.

Electoral system

The regional parliaments have limited power over their own election; federal law largely regulates this and the federal government organises the elections, which occur per Article 117 of the Constitution on the same day as the European Parliament elections.

As such, all regional parliaments were elected using proportional representation under the D'Hondt method. Only Belgian citizens in Belgium had the right to vote, and voting was mandatory for them. Belgians living abroad were allowed to vote in European and federal elections, but not in regional elections.

The following timetable is fixed for the simultaneous European, federal and regional elections:

26 January 2019 Start of the "waiting period" (sperperiode) running until the day of the election, during which political propaganda and expenses are strictly regulated
1 March 2019 The electoral roll is fixed by municipal authorities
11 May 2019 Final day for the official announcement of the election and the convocation letter to voters
26 May 2019 Polling day (from 8am until 2pm, or until 4pm where voting is done electronically)

Flemish Parliament

2019 Flemish parliamentary election
← 2014 26 May 2019 (2019-05-26) 2024 →
All 124 seats in the Flemish Parliament
63 seats needed for a majority
Turnout92.2%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Bart De Wever Filip Dewinter Hilde Crevits
Party N-VA VB CD&V
Leader's seat Antwerp Antwerp West Flanders
Last election 43 seats, 31.9% 6 seats, 5.9% 27 seats, 20.5%
Seats won 35 23 19
Seat change Decrease 8 Increase 17 Decrease 8
Popular vote 1,052,252 783,977 652,766
Percentage 24.8% 18.5% 15.4%
Swing Decrease 7.1 pp Increase 12.6 pp Decrease 5.1 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party Open Vld sp.a Groen
Last election 19 seats, 14.2% 18 seats, 14.0% 10 seats, 8.7%
Seats won 16 13 14
Seat change Decrease 3 Decrease 5 Increase 4
Popular vote 556,630 438,589 428,696
Percentage 13.1% 10.3% 10.1%
Swing Decrease 1.1 pp Decrease 3.7 pp Increase 1.4 pp
Flemish Government before election

Bourgeois Government
N-VA–CD&V–Open Vld coalition

 Elected Flemish Government

Jambon Government
N-VA-CD&V-Open Vld coalition

Number of seats per constituency in Flanders

124 members of the Flemish Parliament were elected. The five Flemish provinces (West Flanders, East Flanders, Antwerp, Flemish Brabant and Limburg) each were a constituency, plus the Brussels-Capital Region where those voting for a Dutch-language party could also vote in the Flemish election.

The incumbent Bourgeois Government was made up of a coalition of Flemish nationalists (N-VA), Christian democrats (CD&V) and liberals (Open Vld). The incumbent Minister-President was Geert Bourgeois (N-VA). The three-party centre-right government coalition had a comfortable majority.

In the October 2018 local elections, no major shifts occurred, although N-VA and sp.a lost some support while Vlaams Belang and Groen generally gained votes. CD&V and Open Vld remained stable.

Incumbent Minister-President Bourgois (N-VA) contended in the simultaneous European Parliament elections; N-VA president Bart De Wever (N-VA) was their party's candidate to succeed him as head of the Flemish Government. Minister Hilde Crevits was CD&V's candidate for Minister-President. Open Vld explicitly did not put forward a candidate.

Parties in the Flemish Parliament
Political party Party leader 2014 seats Current seats
New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) Bart De Wever (since 2004) 43 (government) 35 (government)
Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) Wouter Beke (since 2010) 27 (government) 19 (government)
Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vld) Gwendolyn Rutten (since 2012) 19 (government) 16 (government)
Socialist Party Different (sp.a) John Crombez (since 2015) 18 (opposition) 13 (opposition)
Green (Groen) Meyrem Almaci (since 2014) 10 (opposition) 14 (opposition)
Flemish Interest (Vlaams Belang) Tom Van Grieken (since 2014) 6 (opposition) 23 (opposition)
Union des Francophones (UF) 1 (opposition) 0
Workers' Party of Belgium (PVDA) 0 4 (opposition)
Independents N/A 0

Main candidates

The following candidates are the first on the respective party list (lijsttrekker) per constituency.

Party  Antwerp  East Flanders  Flemish Brabant  Limburg  West Flanders  Brussels
CD&V Koen Van den Heuvel Joke Schauvliege Peter Van Rompuy Lode Ceyssens Hilde Crevits Benjamin Dalle
Groen Meyrem Almaci Bjorn Rzoska An Moerenhout Johan Daenen Jeremie Vaneeckhout Stijn Bex
N-VA Bart De Wever Matthias Diependaele Ben Weyts Steven Vandeput Bert Maertens Karl Vanlouwe
Open Vld Bart Somers Carina Van Cauter Gwendolyn Rutten Lydia Peeters Bart Tommelein Else Ampe
PVDA Jos D'Haese Tom De Meester Sander Vandecapelle Kim De Witte Natalie Eggermont Nele Vandenbempt
sp.a Caroline Gennez Conner Rousseau Bruno Tobback Els Robeyns Annick Lambrecht Bert Anciaux
Vlaams Belang Filip Dewinter Guy D'haeseleer Klaas Slootmans Chris Janssens (politician) Stefaan Sintobin Frédéric Erens

Retiring incumbents

Results

Further information: 2019 Belgian government formation
Summary of the results of the 26 May 2019 Belgian election to the Flemish Parliament
← 2014 2019 2024 →
Party Leader(s) Votes % +/– Seats +/–
New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) Bart De Wever 1,052,252 24.83 7.06 Decrease
35 / 124
 8 Decrease
Flemish Interest (VB) Tom Van Grieken 783,977 18.50 12.58 Increase
23 / 124
 17 Increase
Christian Democratic & Flemish (CD&V) Wouter Beke 652,766 15.40 5.08 Decrease
19 / 124
 8 Decrease
Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open VLD) Gwendolyn Rutten 556,630 13.13 1.01 Decrease
16 / 124
 3 Decrease
Socialist Party Differently (sp.a) John Crombez 438,589 10.35 3.64 Decrease
13 / 124
 5 Decrease
Green (Groen) Meyrem Almaci 428,696 10.11 1.41 Increase
14 / 124
 4 Increase
Workers' Party of Belgium (PVDA) Peter Mertens 225,593 5.32 2.80 Increase
4 / 124
 4 Increase
DierAnimal Constance Villalon 36,944 0.87 New
0 / 124
 0 Steady
Union of Francophones (UF) Collective leadership 28,804 0.68 0.15 Decrease
0 / 124
 1 Decrease
Pirate Party 9,148 0.22 0.40 Decrease
0 / 124
 0 Steady
PRO 5,685 0.13 New
0 / 124
 0 Steady
D-SA 4,569 0.11 New
0 / 124
 0 Steady
Be.One 4,064 0.10 New
0 / 124
 0 Steady
PV&S 2,813 0.07 New
0 / 124
 0 Steady
Genoeg vr iedereen 2,650 0.06 New
0 / 124
 0 Steady
Burgerlijst 2,033 0.05 New
0 / 124
 0 Steady
RP 1,659 0.04 New
0 / 124
 0 Steady
De Coöperatie 1,402 0.03 New
0 / 124
 0 Steady
Valid votes 4,238,274 95.05
Blank and invalid votes 220,790 4.95
Totals 4,459,064 100.00 — 124 0 Steady
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout 4,838,566 92.16
Source: Federal Public Services Home Affairs


Distribution by province

Province N-VA VB CD&V Open VLD sp.a Groen PVDA
% S % S % S % S % S % S % S
Antwerp 31.82 12 18.46 6 11.43 4 10.21 3 7.93 2 9.87 4 6.68 2
East Flanders 22.24 6 20.64 6 13.48 4 15.85 4 10.27 3 10.52 3 5.52 1
Flemish Brabant 25.78 6 13.26 3 13.04 3 15.61 3 9.50 2 12.22 3 4.61 0
Limburg 22.03 4 20.15 3 19.20 3 11.89 2 13.54 2 6.71 1 5.71 1
West Flanders 19.67 5 20.21 5 23.47 5 12.34 3 12.18 3 7.08 1 3.43 0
BMFP 18.96 2 8.49 0 8.42 0 16.33 1 13.38 1 28.03 2 6.38 0
Total 24.83 35 18.50 23 15.40 19 13.13 16 10.35 12 10.11 14 5.32 4
Source: Federal Public Services Home Affairs

Walloon Parliament

2019 Walloon parliamentary election
← 2014 26 May 2019 (2019-05-26) 2024 →
All 75 seats in the Walloon Parliament
38 seats needed for a majority
Turnout93.4%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Elio Di Rupo Charles Michel Jean-Marc Nollet
Zakia Khattabi
Party PS MR Ecolo
Last election 30 seats, 30.9% 25 seats, 26.7% 4 seats, 8.6%
Seats won 23 20 12
Seat change Decrease 7 Decrease 5 Increase 8
Popular vote 532,422 435,878 294,631
Percentage 26.2% 21.4% 14.5%
Swing Decrease 4.7 pp Decrease 5.3 pp Increase 5.9 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Peter Mertens Maxime Prévot
Party PVDA-PTB cdH
Last election 2 seats, 5.8% 13 seats, 15.2%
Seats won 10 10
Seat change Increase 8 Decrease 3
Popular vote 278,343 223,775
Percentage 13.7% 11.0%
Swing Increase 7.9 pp Decrease 4.2 pp
Walloon Government before election

Magnette Government
PS–cdH coalition

 Elected Walloon Government

Marcourt Government
PS–MR–Ecolo coalition

75 members of the Walloon Parliament were elected. The members were elected in multi-member arrondissement-based constituencies; the Walloon Parliament is the only parliament in Belgium still using this geographical level for constituencies. A January 2018 law however reduced the constituencies from 13 to 11, following a successful challenge by Ecolo to the Constitutional Court that constituencies with too few seats are unrepresentative. Both Luxembourg constituencies were merged and the Hainaut constituencies were redrawn.

After the 2014 elections, a coalition government of the Socialist Party (PS) and Christian democrats (cdH) was formed. In 2017 however, following major scandals involving mainly PS, cdH opted to continue governing with MR as the main party instead of PS. Willy Borsus (MR) succeeded Paul Magnette (PS) as Minister-President of Wallonia in July 2017. This was the first time a government majority changed during a legislative term of a Belgian regional government.[9]

Results
Parties in the Walloon Parliament
Political party Party leader 2014 seats Current seats
Socialist Party (PS) Elio Di Rupo (since 1999) 30 (government) 30 (opposition)
Reformist Movement (MR) Charles Michel (since 2019) 25 (opposition) 25 (government)
Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH) Maxime Prévot (since 2019) 13 (government) 13 (government)
Ecolo (Ecolo) Zakia Khattabi & Patrick Dupriez (since 2015) 4 (opposition) 4 (opposition)
Workers' Party (PVDA-PTB) Peter Mertens (since 2008) 2 (opposition) 2 (opposition)
People's Party (Parti Populaire) Mischaël Modrikamen (since 2009) 1 (opposition) N/A
Independents N/A 1 (opposition)

Results

Further information: 2019 Belgian government formation
Summary of the results of the 26 May 2019 Belgian election to the Walloon Parliament
← 2014 2019 2024 →
Party Leader(s) Votes % +/– Seats +/–
Socialist Party (PS) Elio Di Rupo 532,422 26.17 4.73 Decrease
23 / 75
 7 Decrease
Reformist Movement (MR) Charles Michel 435,878 21.42 5.26 Decrease
20 / 75
 5 Decrease
Ecolo Jean-Marc Nollet
Zakia Khattabi 		294,631 14.48 5.86 Increase
12 / 75
 8 Increase
Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB) Peter Mertens 278,343 13.68 7.92 Increase
10 / 75
 8 Increase
Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH) Maxime Prévot 223,775 11.00 4.17 Decrease
10 / 75
 3 Decrease
Democratic, Federalist, Independent (DéFI) Olivier Maingain 84,219 4.14 1.61 Increase
0 / 75
 0 Steady
People's Party (PP) Mischaël Modrikamen 74,622 3.67 1.20 Decrease
0 / 75
 1 Decrease
Listes Destexhe Alain Destexhe 30,878 1.52 New
0 / 75
 0 Steady
Collectif Citoyen 26,673 1.31 New
0 / 75
 0 Steady
Nation Hervé Van Laethem 9,649 0.47 0.06 Decrease
0 / 75
 0 Steady
Wallonie Insoumise 8,155 0.40 New
0 / 75
 0 Steady
Agir 7,146 0.35 New
0 / 75
 0 Steady
La Droite 3,407 0.17 1.22 Decrease
0 / 75
 0 Steady
Communist Party of Belgium (PCB) 944 0.05 New
0 / 75
 0 Steady
Référendum 621 0.03 0.06 Decrease
0 / 75
 0 Steady
Turquoise 590 0.03 New
0 / 75
 0 Steady
Valid votes 2,220,443 91.64
Blank and invalid votes 185,630 8.36
Totals 2,406,073 100.00 — 75 0 Steady
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout 2,563,033 93.88
Source: Federal Public Services Home Affairs


Distribution by province

Province PS MR Ecolo PTB cdH
% S % S % S % S % S
Hainaut 33.23 11 16.97 5 11.64 3 15.96 5 8.78 3
Liège 25.47 7 20.41 6 15.45 4 15.34 4 9.34 2
Luxembourg 19.58 1 25.27 2 14.74 1 9.05 0 22.51 2
Namur 23.21 3 21.97 3 14.98 2 12.30 1 15.40 2
Walloon Brabant 14.92 1 34.04 4 19.76 2 7.53 0 8.43 1
Total 26.17 23 21.42 20 14.48 12 13.68 10 11.00 10
Source: Federal Public Services Home Affairs

Brussels Parliament

All 89 members of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region were elected. They were elected at-large, but there were separate Dutch-language party lists (electing 17 members) and French-language party lists (electing 72 members). Those voting for a Dutch-language party could also cast a vote for the Flemish Parliament election.

Results

Further information: 2019 Belgian government formation
Summary of the results of the 26 May 2019 Belgian election to the Brussels Regional Parliament
← 2014 2019 2024 →
Party Lead candidate Votes % +/– Seats +/–
French language group
Socialist Party (PS) Rudi Vervoort 85,530 22.03 4.56 Decrease
17 / 72
 4 Decrease
Ecolo Alain Maron 74,246 19.12 9.01 Increase
15 / 72
 7 Increase
Reformist Movement (MR) Françoise Schepmans 65,502 16.87 6.17 Decrease
13 / 72
 5 Decrease
Democratic, Federalist, Independent (DéFI) Bernard Clerfayt 53,638 13.81 0.99 Decrease
10 / 72
 2 Decrease
Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB) Françoise De Smedt 52,297 13.47 9.61 Increase
10 / 72
 6 Increase
Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH) Céline Fremault 29,436 7.58 4.16 Decrease
6 / 72
 3 Decrease
DierAnimal Victoria Austraet 5,113 1.32 New
1 / 72
 1 Increase
Listes Destexhe Claude Moniquet 10,052 2.59 New
0 / 72
 0 Steady
People's Party (PP) Nicola Tournay 6,605 1.70 0.24 Decrease
0 / 72
 0 Steady
Collectif Citoyen Raouf Ben Ammar 2,029 0.52 New
0 / 72
 0 Steady
act-SALEM Michel Dardenne 1,496 0.39 New
0 / 72
 0 Steady
Plan B Annick Letecheur 1,115 0.29 New
0 / 72
 0 Steady
Hé Isabelle Praile 697 0.18 New
0 / 72
 0 Steady
be@eu Philippe Lateur 522 0.13 New
0 / 72
 0 Steady
Dutch language group
Green (Groen) Elke Van den Brandt 14,425 20.61 2.72 Increase
4 / 17
 1 Increase
New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) Cieltje Van Achter 12,578 17.97 0.97 Increase
3 / 17
 0 Steady
Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open VLD) Guy Vanhengel 11,051 15.79 10.91 Decrease
3 / 17
 2 Decrease
Socialist Party Differently (sp.a) Pascal Smet 10,540 15.06 4.51 Decrease
3 / 17
 0 Steady
Flemish Interest (VB) Dominiek Lootens-Stael 5,838 8.34 2.74 Increase
1 / 17
 0 Steady
Christian Democratic & Flemish (CD&V) Bianca Debaets 5,231 7.47 3.96 Decrease
1 / 17
 1 Decrease
Agora Pepijn Kennis 3,629 5.18 New
1 / 17
 1 Increase
Workers' Party of Belgium (PVDA) Jan Busselen 2,992 4.27 New
1 / 17
 1 Increase
Be.One Dyab Abou Jahjah 3,021 4.32 New
0 / 17
 0 Steady
DierAnimal Catherine Khalil 691 0.99 New
0 / 17
 0 Steady
Valid votes 458,274 93.35
Blank and invalid votes 32,643 6.65
Totals 490,917 100.00 — 89 0 Steady
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout 588,203 83.46
Source: Federal Public Services Home Affairs

Distribution by district

French language group
District PS Ecolo MR DéFI PTB cdH DierAnimal
% S % S % S % S % S % S % S
Anderlecht 32.00 15.29 15.55 8.81 19.02 7.00 1.34
Brussels 29.00 16.46 12.33 9.59 17.36 8.32 1.17
Ixelles 13.24 27.15 20.38 18.27 8.35 5.50 1.46
Molenbeek-Saint-Jean 28.42 14.25 14.13 8.71 17.00 10.26 1.24
Saint-Gilles 25.20 27.72 9.65 6.89 19.79 4.67 1.28
Saint-Josse-ten-Noode 14.34 18.81 22.78 21.19 6.94 8.96 1.20
Schaerbeek 26.09 18.13 10.81 16.45 15.11 7.08 1.14
Uccle 14.96 22.72 24.13 15.13 9.27 5.75 1.72
Total 22.03 17 19.12 15 16.87 13 13.81 10 13.47 10 7.58 6 1.32 1
Source: Federal Public Services Home Affairs
Dutch language group
District Groen N-VA Open VLD sp.a VB CD&V Agora PVDA
% S % S % S % S % S % S % S % S
Anderlecht 12.45 22.30 13.83 16.18 13.52 8.15 2.10 4.36
Brussels 21.91 17.05 14.29 17.63 7.52 7.96 2.91 4.79
Ixelles 27.16 15.52 17.27 12.35 5.22 6.03 9.74 3.30
Molenbeek-Saint-Jean 16.17 19.99 15.14 17.85 10.61 7.95 2.03 4.19
Saint-Gilles 28.69 11.27 10.72 19.16 4.53 3.60 9.56 6.47
Saint-Josse-ten-Noode 22.18 17.36 21.53 9.99 6.27 9.20 7.43 0.97
Schaerbeek 23.09 16.22 14.71 13.15 7.84 6.91 7.14 5.65
Uccle 23.27 17.96 17.48 13.06 5.90 6.20 8.40 3.50
Total 20.61 4 17.97 3 15.79 3 15.06 3 8.34 1 7.47 1 5.18 1 4.27 1
Source: Federal Public Services Home Affairs

German-speaking Community Parliament

All 25 members of the Parliament of the German-speaking Community were elected in one constituency (at-large).

In the 2014–2019 period, the government was made up of regionalist ProDG, the socialist party and the liberal PFF, headed by Minister-President Oliver Paasch (ProDG).

Results by municipality
Parties in the German Parliament
Political party Members
  Christian Social Party (CSP) 7 (opposition)
  ProDG 6 (government)
  Socialist Party (SP) 4 (government)
  Party for Freedom and Progress (PFF) 4 (government)
  Ecolo 2 (opposition)
  Vivant 2 (opposition)
Total 25

Results

Further information: 2019 Belgian government formation
Summary of the results of the 26 May 2019 Belgian election to the German-speaking Community Parliament
← 2014 2019 2024 →
Party Leader(s) Votes % +/– Seats +/–
Pro German Speaking Community (ProDG) Oliver Paasch 9,146 23.33 1.13 Increase
6 / 25
 0 Steady
Christian Social Party (CSP) Colin Kraft 9,069 23.14 1.72 Decrease
6 / 25
 1 Decrease
Socialist Party (SP) Antonio Antoniadis 5,820 14.85 1.23 Decrease
4 / 25
 0 Steady
Vivant Michael Balter 5,807 14.81 4.20 Increase
3 / 25
 1 Increase
Ecolo Freddy Mockel 4,902 12.51 2.96 Increase
3 / 25
 1 Increase
Partei für Freiheit und Fortschritt (PFF) Isabelle Weykmans 4,454 11.36 4.18 Decrease
3 / 25
 1 Decrease
Valid votes 39,198 92.22
Blank and invalid votes 3,305 7.78
Totals 42,503 100.00 — 25 0 Steady
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout 49,441 85.97
Source: Federal Public Services Home Affairs

Distribution by district

District ProDG CSP SP Vivant Ecolo PFF
% S % S % S % S % S % S
Eupen 22.31 24.32 16.75 9.09 11.93 12.27
St. Vith 24.53 21.75 12.63 21.49 9.29 10.30
Total 23.33 6 23.14 6 14.85 4 14.81 3 12.51 3 11.36 3
Source: Federal Public Services Home Affairs

References

  1. ^ Article 117 of the Belgian Constitution
  2. ^ Traditional parties hammered in Belgian local election
  3. ^ Brussels turns Green in Belgian local elections
  4. ^ "Vlaams minister Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V) stopt in 2019 met nationale politiek". De Morgen. 17 November 2018.
  5. ^ "Ziekte dwingt me om te stoppen". Het Belang van Limburg. 5 December 2018.
  6. ^ "Yamila Idrissi (SP.A) verlaat de politiek". De Standaard. 4 December 2018.
  7. ^ "Grete Remen (N-VA) stapt uit de politiek: "Is er nu niemand in de politiek die ziet dat het zo niet verder kan?"". De Morgen. 23 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Johan Verstreken (CD&V) stopt met politiek". VRTNWS. 28 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Passation de pouvoir historique entre Paul Magnette et Willy Borsus". RTBF. 29 July 2017.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2019_Belgian_regional_elections&oldid=1097709759"