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1965 Belgian general election
First party
Second party
Third party
Leader
Pierre Harmel
Léo Collard
Omer Vanaudenhove
Party
Christian Social
Socialist
Freedom and Progress
Leader since
Candidate for PM
1959
1961
Last election
96 seats, 41.46%
84 seats, 36.72%
New
Seats won
77
64
48
Seat change
19
20
New
Popular vote
1,785,211
1,403,107
1,119,991
Percentage
34.45%
28.28%
21.61%
Swing
7.01%
8.44%
New
Fourth party
Fifth party
Sixth party
Leader
Frans Van der Elst
Ernest Burnelle
Paul Brien
Party
VU
PVDA-PTB
DéFI
Leader since
1955
1954
1964
Last election
5 seats, 3.46%
5 seats, 3.08%
New
Seats won
12
6
3
Seat change
7
1
New
Popular vote
346,860
247,311
68,966
Percentage
6.69%
4.77%
1.33%
Swing
3.23%
1.69%
New
General elections were held in Belgium on 23 May 1965.[1] The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party , which won 77 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 44 of the 106 seats in the Senate .[2] Voter turnout was 91.6%.[3] Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.
The elections followed the implementation of the 1962 language laws . As a result, the Flemish nationalist People's Union made big gains, as well as the new Democratic Front of the Francophones which was founded as a response to the language laws.
The election also followed the founding of the Party for Freedom and Progress , succeeding the Liberal Party . The new party aimed to reach a broader voter base, in which it succeeded by more than doubling its number of seats.
Despite both government parties losing seats, they retained their sizeable majority and continued governing.
Results
Chamber of Representatives
Party
Votes
%
Seats
+/–
Christian Social Party (CVP-PSC)
1,785,211
34.45
77
–19
Belgian Socialist Party (BSP-PSB)
1,465,503
28.28
64
–20
Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV-PLP)
1,119,991
21.61
48
+28
People's Union (Volksunie)
346,860
6.69
12
+7
Communist Party of Belgium (KPB-PCB)
247,311
4.77
6
+1
Democratic Front of the Francophones (FDF)
68,966
1.33
3
New
Communists
41,674
0.80
0
New
Walloon Front
24,245
0.47
1
New
Walloon Workers' Party
23,582
0.46
1
New
de Socialist
14,937
0.29
0
New
Catholic Party
14,007
0.27
0
New
Flemish People's Party
13,321
0.26
0
New
Walloon Communist Party
13,321
0.26
0
New
Independent Social Party
9,493
0.18
0
New
Independent Workers Union
8,680
0.17
0
New
Flemish Democrats
7,983
0.15
0
New
Walloon Democratic Front
5,709
0.11
0
New
Afzonderlijk
4,762
0.09
0
New
Francophone Union
3,776
0.07
0
New
Independent National Party
3,089
0.06
0
New
Animal Protection
2,543
0.05
0
New
Belgian Workers' Party
2,237
0.04
0
New
Independent Rally
2,213
0.04
0
New
National Party
1,889
0.04
0
0
Return to Liège
1,552
0.03
0
New
Union of Independents
1,014
0.02
0
New
Independent Middle Class
958
0.02
0
New
Kaganovemus
890
0.02
0
New
Trotsky Communists
385
0.01
0
New
New Resistance Movement
309
0.01
0
New
Independents
493
0.01
0
–1
Invalid/blank votes
396,941
–
–
–
Total
5,578,876
100
212
0
Registered voters/turnout
6,091,534
91.58
–
–
Source: Belgian Elections
Senate
Party
Votes
%
Seats
+/–
Christian Social Party (CVP-PSC)
1,785,191
34.89
44
–3
Belgian Socialist Party (BSP-PSB)
1,449,482
28.33
31
–14
Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV-PLP)
1,111,894
21.73
23
+12
People's Union (Volksunie)
338,770
6.62
4
+2
Communist Party of Belgium (KPB-PCB)
249,796
4.88
3
+2
Democratic Front of the Francophones (FDF)
68,397
1.34
1
New
Walloon Democratic Front
27,215
0.53
0
New
Walloon Workers' Party
21,511
0.42
0
New
Independent Social Party
12,180
0.24
0
New
Walloon Communist Party
11,600
0.23
0
New
Francophone Union
7,656
0.15
0
New
Independent Rally
7,456
0.15
0
New
Independent Workers Union
6,448
0.13
0
New
Catholic Party
5,226
0.10
0
New
Belgian Workers' Party
4,207
0.08
0
New
Independent National Party
4,066
0.08
0
New
National Party
2,885
0.06
0
0
Kaganovemus
1,739
0.03
0
New
Independent Middle Class
831
0.02
0
New
Flemish Democrats
475
0.01
0
New
Invalid/blank votes
461,584
–
–
–
Total
5,578,609
100
106
0
Registered voters/turnout
6,091,534
91.58
–
–
Source: Belgian Elections
Constituencies
The distribution of seats among the electoral districts was as follows for the Chamber of Representatives. Seats were reapportioned among the districts due to population growth, which was stronger in Flanders than in Wallonia, and due to several municipalities having been changed to another province following the 1962 language laws. For example, the Comines-Warneton municipalities were transferred from Ypres (West Flanders) to the newly created arrondissement of Mouscron (Hainaut), causing Ypres to lose one seat and Tournai-Ath-Mouscron to gain one seat.
References