1985 Belgian general election
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1985 Belgian general election
212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
Prime Minister Martens
212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
| First party | Second party | Third party | |
|---|---|---|---|
PS
|
|||
| 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 | Increase 6 | Steady | Increase 6 |
| Popular vote | 1,291,244 | 834,488 | 882,200 |
| Percentage | 21.29% | 13.76% | 14.55% |
| Swing | Increase 1.95% | Increase 1.59% | Increase 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 | Steady | Decrease 6 | Increase 2 |
| Popular vote | 619,390 | 651,806 | 482,254 |
| Percentage | 10.21% | 10.75% | 7.95% |
| Swing | Increase 2.24% | Decrease 2.14% | Increase 1.50% |
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| flag Belgium portal |
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.[1] 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
[edit ]Chamber of Representatives
[edit ]| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian People's Party | 1,291,244 | 21.29 | 49 | +6 | |
| Socialistische Partij | 882,200 | 14.55 | 32 | +6 | |
| Parti Socialiste | 834,488 | 13.76 | 35 | 0 | |
| Party for Freedom and Progress | 651,806 | 10.75 | 22 | –6 | |
| Liberal Reformist Party | 619,390 | 10.21 | 24 | 0 | |
| Social Christian Party (PSC) | 482,254 | 7.95 | 20 | +2 | |
| People's Union | 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 | |
| Democratic Front of Francophones | 72,361 | 1.19 | 3 | – | |
| Communist Party of Belgium | 71,695 | 1.18 | 0 | –2 | |
| Democratic Union for the Respect of Labour | 69,707 | 1.15 | 1 | –2 | |
| Workers' Party of Belgium | 46,034 | 0.76 | 0 | 0 | |
| Solidarity and Participation | 31,983 | 0.53 | 0 | New | |
| Socialist Workers' Party | 13,681 | 0.23 | 0 | 0 | |
| Green | 9,719 | 0.16 | 0 | New | |
| Walloon Party | 9,284 | 0.15 | 0 | New | |
| Organic Front for the Cultural Renewal of Solidarist Europe | 8,221 | 0.14 | 0 | New | |
| Union for a New Democracy | 6,609 | 0.11 | 0 | New | |
| Party of German-speaking Belgians | 5,228 | 0.09 | 0 | 0 | |
| National Front | 3,738 | 0.06 | 0 | New | |
| Christian Liberal Party | 3,442 | 0.06 | 0 | New | |
| Parti Communautaire National-Européen | 1,763 | 0.03 | 0 | New | |
| Zo Maar | 1,630 | 0.03 | 0 | New | |
| United Feminist Party | 1,201 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | |
| Union of Progressive Walloons | 828 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Flemish People's Party | 678 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Charlier | 655 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| GIOT | 640 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Humanist Party | 518 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Appeal to All | 464 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| SDU–USD | 412 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Total | 6,064,260 | 100.00 | 212 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 6,064,260 | 92.55 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 487,974 | 7.45 | |||
| Total votes | 6,552,234 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 7,001,297 | 93.59 | |||
| Source: Belgian Elections | |||||
Senate
[edit ]| 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 | |
| Democratic Union for the Respect of Labour | 73,045 | 1.22 | 0 | –1 | |
| Communist Party of Belgium | 71,020 | 1.18 | 0 | –1 | |
| Democratic Front of Francophones | 70,239 | 1.17 | 1 | – | |
| Workers' Party of Belgium | 44,799 | 0.75 | 0 | 0 | |
| Solidarity and Participation | 33,554 | 0.56 | 0 | New | |
| Socialist Workers' Party | 16,786 | 0.28 | 0 | 0 | |
| Green | 10,988 | 0.18 | 0 | New | |
| Walloon Party | 10,539 | 0.18 | 0 | New | |
| Organic Front for the Cultural Renewal of Solidarist Europe | 9,318 | 0.16 | 0 | New | |
| Union for a New Democracy | 7,200 | 0.12 | 0 | New | |
| Party of German-speaking Belgians | 5,364 | 0.09 | 0 | New | |
| National Front | 4,201 | 0.07 | 0 | New | |
| Christian Liberal Party | 3,267 | 0.05 | 0 | New | |
| United Feminist Party | 1,430 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | |
| Parti Communautaire National-Européen | 1,312 | 0.02 | 0 | New | |
| Flemish People's Party | 446 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Paix | 443 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 5,994,431 | 100.00 | 106 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 5,994,431 | 91.48 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 558,259 | 8.52 | |||
| Total votes | 6,552,690 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 7,001,297 | 93.59 | |||
| Source: Belgian Elections | |||||
References
[edit ]- ^ Fitzmaurice, John; Van den Berghe, Guido (1986). "The Belgian general election of 1985". Electoral Studies. 5 (1): 73–76. doi:10.1016/0261-3794(86)90030-2. ISSN 0261-3794.