1847 Belgian general election

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 8 June 1847.[1] The result was a victory for the new Liberal Association, which had been formed the previous year.[2] It won 33 seats to the Catholics' 21, as the latter were split into dogmatic and liberal groups.[2] Only 1% of the country's population was eligible to vote.[3]

1847 Belgian general election

← 1845 8 June 1847 (1847-06-08) 1848 →

54 of the 108 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
55 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Charles Rogier Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt
Party Liberal Catholic
Leader since Candidate for PM Candidate for PM
Seats won 33 21
Seats after 55 53
Popular vote 9,142 8,298
Percentage 52.12% 47.31%

Government before election

de Theux de Meylandt II
Catholic

Government after election

Rogier I
Liberal

Under the alternating system, Chamber elections were only held in four out of the nine provinces: East Flanders, Hainaut, Liège and Limburg. Thus, 54 of the 108 Chamber seats were up for election. The total number of Chamber seats increased from 98 to 108 following a reapportionment due to population increases.

While the liberals gained a majority in the Chamber, the Catholics retained theirs in the Senate. Following the election, the Catholic government led by Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt resigned. After a political crisis of two months, a liberal government was formed on 12 August 1847, headed by Charles Rogier. The liberals would go on to win the 1848 elections.

Results

edit

Chamber of Representatives

edit
 
PartyVotes%Seats
WonTotal
Liberal Association9,14252.123355
Catholics8,29847.312153
Others1010.5800
Total17,541100.0054108
Total votes17,541
Registered voters/turnout22,57277.71
Source: Mackie & Rose

Senate

edit
 
PartySeats+/–
Catholics320
Liberal Association20+7
Independents2–1
Total54+7
Source: Sternberger et al.

References

edit
  1. ^ Codebook Constituency-level Elections Archive, 2003
  2. ^ a b Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (31 May 2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. p. 270. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
  3. ^ Sternberger, D, Vogel, B & Nohlen, D (1969) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band I: Europa - Erster Halbband, p105