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Belgian general election, 1949
First party
Second party
Leader
Gaston Eyskens
Paul-Henri Spaak
Party
Christian Social
Socialist
Leader since
Candidate for PM
Candidate for PM
Last election
92 seats, 42.54%
69 seats, 31.57%
Seats won
105
66
Seat change
13
3
Popular vote
2,190,895
1,496,539
Percentage
43.55%
29.76%
Swing
1.01%
1.81%
Third party
Fourth party
Leader
Roger Motz
Julien Lahaut
Party
Liberal
PVDA-PTB
Leader since
1945
1945
Last election
17 seats, 8.93%
23 seats, 12.69%
Seats won
29
12
Seat change
12
11
Popular vote
767,180
376,765
Percentage
15.25%
7.49%
Swing
6.32%
5.20%
General elections were held in Belgium on 26 June 1949.[1] Several reforms took effect prior to the elections; they were the first after the introduction of universal women's suffrage ; the number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives was increased from 202 to 212, and from now on, elections for the nine provincial councils were held simultaneously with parliamentary elections. The number of Chamber seats and the simultaneous provincial and parliamentary elections would remain unchanged until state reforms in 1993.
The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party , which won 105 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 54 of the 106 seats in the Senate .[2] Voter turnout was 94.4%.[3]
Results
Chamber of Deputies
Party
Votes
%
Seats
+/–
Christian Social Party
2,190,895
43.55
105
+13
Belgian Socialist Party
1,496,539
29.76
66
-3
Liberal Party
767,180
15.25
29
+12
Communist Party of Belgium
376,765
7.49
12
–11
Flemish Concentration
103,896
2.07
0
New
Middle Class
45,721
0.91
0
New
Independent Party
20,450
0.41
0
New
Traders Union
6,709
0.13
0
New
National Belgian Rally
6,077
0.12
0
New
Walloon Unity
5,852
0.12
0
New
Luxembourg Defence
2,024
0.04
0
New
Cosmocraten
685
0.01
0
New
Light
680
0.01
0
New
Independent General Syndicate
610
0.01
0
New
Belgian Patriotic Party
55
0.00
0
New
Independents
6,745
0.13
0
0
Invalid/blank votes
289,333
–
–
–
Total
5,320,216
100
212
+10
Registered voters/turnout
5,635,452
94.41
–
–
Source: Belgian Elections
Senate
Party
Votes
%
Seats
+/–
Christian Social Party
2,208,553
46.95
54
+3
Belgian Socialist Party
1,410,135
29.98
33
–1
Liberal Party
762,530
16.21
14
+10
Communist Party of Belgium
377,209
8.02
5
–6
Flemish Concentration
66,055
1.40
0
New
Middle Class
37,302
0.79
0
New
Independent Party
20,357
0.43
0
New
A
13,379
0.28
0
New
Traders Union
5,507
0.12
0
New
Walloon Unity
5,010
0.11
0
New
B
555
0.01
0
New
Independents
5,241
0.12
0
0
Invalid/blank votes
321,017
–
–
–
Total
5,024,677
100
106
+5
Registered voters/turnout
5,635,452
89.16
–
–
Source: Belgian Elections
Constituencies
The distribution of seats among the electoral districts of the Chamber of Representatives was as follows.[4] Several arrondissements got one or more additional seats.
References