1985 Belgian general election

1985 Belgian general election

13 October 1985
212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
First party Second party Third party   Leader Wilfried Martens Guy Spitaels Karel Van Miert Party CVP PS sp.a Leader since Candidate for PM 1981 1978 Last election 43 seats, 19.34% 35 seats, 12.17% 26 seats, 12.36% Seats won 49 35 32 Seat change 6 6 Popular vote 1,291,244 834,488 882,200 Percentage 21.29% 13.76% 14.55% Swing 1.95% 1.59% 2.19%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Louis Michel Guy Verhofstadt Gérard Deprez Party PRL Open Vld cdH Leader since 1982 1982 1981 Last election 24 seats, 7.97% 28 seats, 12.89% 18 seats, 6.49% Seats won 24 22 20 Seat change 6 2 Popular vote 619,390 651,806 482,254 Percentage 10.21% 10.75% 7.95% Swing 2.24% 2.14% 1.50%
Colours denote the winning party in each electoral district (for the Chamber of Deputies).
Government before election Martens V CVP-PSC-PVV-PRL Elected Government Martens VI CVP-PSC-PVV-PRL

Prime Minister Martens

General elections were held in Belgium on 13 October 1985. The Christian People's Party emerged as the largest party, with 49 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 25 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Elections to the nine provincial councils were also held.

The incumbent government was a coalition of Christian democrats (CVP/PSC) and liberals (PVV/PRL) led by Prime Minister Wilfried Martens. Following the elections, the same parties formed a new Martens Government. Guy Verhofstadt, PVV leader since 1982, was elected for the first time as representative. Despite PVV being the only governing party to lose seats, he was able to weigh on the government agreement and he became Deputy Prime Minister in the Martens VI Government. The government would fall two years later due to the Voeren issue; distrust of labour unions in Verhofstadt proved to be a factor as well.

Results

Chamber of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Christian People's Party (CVP)	1,291,244	21.29	49	+6
Socialistische Partij (SP)	882,200	14.55	32	+6
Parti Socialiste (PS)	834,488	13.76	35	0
Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV)	651,806	10.75	22	–6
Liberal Reformist Party (PRL)	619,390	10.21	24	0
Social Christian Party (PSC)	482,254	7.95	20	+2
People's Union (VU)	477,755	7.88	16	–4
Agalev	226,758	3.74	4	+2
Ecolo	152,483	2.51	5	+3
Vlaams Blok	85,391	1.41	1	0
Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones (FDF)	72,361	1.19	3	–
Communist Party of Belgium	71,695	1.18	0	–2
UDRT/RAD	69,707	1.15	1	–2
Workers' Party of Belgium	46,034	0.76	0	0
SEP	31,983	1.53	0	New
SAP/POS	13,681	0.23	0	New
Groen	9,719	0.16	0	New
PW	9,284	0.15	0	New
Forces	8,221	0.14	0	New
UND	6,609	0.11	0	New
Party of German-speaking Belgians	5,228	0.09	0	0
NF–FN	3,738	0.06	0	New
PLC	3,442	0.06	0	New
NCP/PCN	1,763	0.03	0	New
Zomaar	1,630	0.03	0	New
PFU	1,201	0.02	0	0
UPW	828	0.01	0	New
VVP	678	0.01	0	New
Charlier	655	0.01	0	New
GIOT	640	0.01	0	New
HP–PH	518	0.01	0	New
AAT	464	0.01	0	New
SDU-USD	412	0.01	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	487,974	–	–	–
Total	6,552,234	100	212	0
Registered voters/turnout	7,001,297	93.59	–	–
Source: Belgian Election Results

Senate

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Christian People's Party	1,260,113	21.02	25	+3
Socialistische Partij	868,624	14.49	16	+3
Parti Socialiste	832,792	13.89	18	0
Party for Freedom and Progress	637,776	10.64	11	–3
Liberal Reformist Party	588,373	9.82	13	+2
People's Union	484,996	8.09	8	–2
Social Christian Party	475,119	7.93	10	+2
Agalev	229,206	3.82	2	+1
Ecolo	163,361	2.73	2	–1
Vlaams Blok	90,120	1.50	0	0
UDRT/RAD	73,045	1.22	0	–1
Communist Party of Belgium	71,020	1.18	0	–1
Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones	70,239	1.17	1	–
Workers' Party of Belgium	44,799	0.75	0	0
SEP	33,554	0.56	0	New
SAP/POS	16,786	0.28	0	New
Groen	10,988	0.18	0	New
PW	10,539	0.18	0	New
Forces	9,318	0.16	0	New
UND	7,200	0.12	0	New
Party of German-speaking Belgians	5,364	0.09	0	New
NF–FN	4,201	0.07	0	New
PLC	3,267	0.05	0	New
PFU	1,430	0.02	0	0
NCP/PCN	1,312	0.02	0	New
VVP	446	0.01	0	New
Paix	443	0.01	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	558,259	–	–	–
Total	6,552,690	100	106	0
Registered voters/turnout	7,001,297	93.59	–	–
Source: Election Results