1946 Belgian general election

Belgian general election, 1946

17 February 1946 (1946-02-17)
All 202 seats in the Chamber of Representatives 102 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Hubert Pierlot Paul-Henri Spaak Julien Lahaut Party Christian Social Socialist PVDA-PTB Leader since Candidate for PM? Candidate for PM 1945 Last election 73 seats, 33.58% 64 seats, 29.44% 9 seats, 4.65% Seats won 92 69 23 Seat change 19 5 14 Popular vote 1,006,293 746,738 300,099 Percentage 42.54% 31.57% 12.69% Swing 8.96% 2.13% 8.04%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Roger Motz Pierre Clerdent Antoine Delfosse Party Liberal Democratic Union Leader since 1945 1945 Last election 33 seats, 17.18% New party Seats won 17 1 Seat change 16 1 Popular vote 211,143 51,095 Percentage 8.93% 2.16% Swing 8.25 2.16%
Prime Minister before election Achille Van Acker Socialist Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak Socialist

General elections were held in Belgium on 17 February 1946. The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 92 of the 202 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 51 of the 101 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 90.3%.

They were the first elections after the Second World War and saw fundamental changes among the political parties. The Flemish National Union, which held 17 seats prior to the war and collaborated with Nazi Germany during the war, was outlawed. The Catholic Party changed into the Christian Social Party while the Belgian Labour Party changed into the Belgian Socialist Party. The Liberal Party suffered major losses, while the Christian Social Party and the Communist Party made major gains. Despite this, the Socialist Party led by Paul-Henri Spaak formed a minority government, which fell shortly after.

Results

Chamber of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Christian Social Party	1,006,293	42.54	92
Belgian Socialist Party	746,738	31.57	69
Communist Party of Belgium	300,099	12.69	23
Liberal Party	211,143	8.93	17
Belgian Democratic Union	51,095	2.16	1
Liberal-Socialist Kartels	37,844	1.60	0
Union des métiers	3,360	0.14	0
FRENSSEN	2,480	0.10	0
Independents	2,785	0.12	0
Walloon Unity Party	1,774	0.07	0
Belgian People's Movement	865	0.04	0
Resistant	676	0.03	0
Middle Classes	274	0.01	0
Belgian Free Independents	212	0.01	0
Invalid/blank votes	94,971	–	–
Total	2,460,609	100	202
Registered voters/turnout	2,724,796	90.30	–
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Christian Social Party	999,264	42.74	51
Belgian Socialist Party	729,943	31.22	34
Communist Party of Belgium	300,655	12.86	11
Liberal Party	214,837	9.19	4
Belgian Democratic Union	48,441	2.07	0
Liberal-Socialist Kartels	33,732	1.44	1
Union des métiers	3,764	0.16	0
Demarrez	3,753	0.16	0
Independents	3,866	0.17	0
Invalid/blank votes	106,767	–	–
Total	2,445,022	100	101
Source: Belgian Elections