1961 Belgian general election First party Second party Third party Leader Théo Lefèvre Léo Collard Roger Motz Party Christian Social Socialist Liberal Leader since Candidate for PM 1959 1958 Last election 104 seats, 46.50% 80 seats, 35.79% 20 seats, 11.05% Seats won 96 84 20 Seat change 8 4 Popular vote 2,182,642 1,933,424 649,376 Percentage 41.46% 36.72% 12.33% Swing 5.04% 0.93% 1.28% Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party Leader Frans Van der Elst Ernest Burnelle Jean-Marie Evrard Party VU PVDA-PTB RN Leader since 1955 1954 1959 Last election 1 seat, 1.98% 2 seats, 1.89% New Seats won 5 5 1 Seat change 4 3 New Popular vote 182,407 162,238 42,450 Percentage 3.46% 3.08% 0.81% Swing 1.48% 1.19% New
Chamber seat distribution by constituency
General elections were held in Belgium on 26 March 1961.[ 1] The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party , which won 96 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 47 of the 106 seats in the Senate .[ 2] Voter turnout was 92.3%.[ 3] Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.
Prior to the elections, the centre-right government of the Christian Social and Liberal Party led by Gaston Eyskens pushed through austerity measures with a law known as the Eenheidswet or Loi Unique , despite heavy strikes in the preceding weeks , especially in Wallonia. After the elections, the Christian Democrats formed a new government with the Socialist Party instead of the Liberal Party, with Théo Lefèvre as Prime Minister.
Chamber of Deputies [ edit ] Party Votes % Seats +/– Christian Social Party 2,182,642 41.46 96 –8 Belgian Socialist Party 1,933,424 36.72 84 +4 Liberal Party 649,376 12.33 20 0 People's Union 182,407 3.46 5 +4 Communist Party of Belgium 162,238 3.08 5 +3 National Rally 42,450 0.81 1 New Independent Party 33,174 0.63 0 New National Union of Independents 12,252 0.23 0 New National Party 4,375 0.08 0 New Liberal dissidents3,956 0.08 0 New Walloon Unity 3,466 0.07 0 New Alleenstaande 3,101 0.06 0 New Zelfstandig 2,307 0.04 0 New Francophone Bloc 1,824 0.03 0 New Gekavemus 604 0.01 0 New Independent Workers 551 0.01 0 New Universal People 480 0.01 0 New EC Group 154 0.00 0 New Independents 46,244 0.88 1 +1 Total 5,265,025 100.00 212 0 Valid votes 5,265,025 94.46 Invalid/blank votes 308,815 5.54 Total votes 5,573,840 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 6,036,165 92.34 Source: Belgian Elections
Party Votes % Seats +/– Christian Social Party 2,200,323 42.12 47 –6 Belgian Socialist Party 1,924,605 36.84 45 +5 Liberal Party 637,922 12.21 11 +1 Communist Party of Belgium 163,576 3.13 1 0 People's Union 159,096 3.05 2 +2 National Movement 26,211 0.50 0 New Independent Party 21,421 0.41 0 New National Union of Independents 13,284 0.25 0 New Liberal dissidents7,711 0.15 0 New National Rally 5,425 0.10 0 New National Party 4,457 0.09 0 New Walloon Unity 3,478 0.07 0 New Francophone Bloc 1,947 0.04 0 New Other parties 18,405 0.35 0 – Independents 36,646 0.70 0 0 Total 5,224,507 100.00 106 0 Valid votes 5,224,507 93.73 Invalid/blank votes 349,475 6.27 Total votes 5,573,982 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 6,036,165 92.34 Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Belgian Elections