1981 Belgian general election First party Second party Third party Leader Mark Eyskens André Cools Willy De Clercq Party CVP PS Open Vld Leader since Candidate for PM 1978 1977 Last election 57 seats, 26.14% 31 seats, 12.46% 22 seats, 10.36% Seats won 43 35 28 Seat change 14 4 6 Popular vote 1,165,239 733,137 776,871 Percentage 19.34% 12.17% 12.89% Swing 6.80% 0.29% 2.53% Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party PRL
Leader Karel Van Miert Jean Gol Vic Anciaux Party sp.a PRL VU Leader since 1978 1979 1979 Last election 26 seats, 12.37% 15 seats, 4.64% 14 seats, 7.02% Seats won 26 24 20 Seat change 9 6 Popular vote 744,593 480,380 588,436 Percentage 12.36% 7.97% 9.77% Swing 0.01% 3.33% 2.75%
Chamber of Representatives results by constituency Senate results by constituency
General elections were held in Belgium on 8 November 1981.[ 1] [ 2] Voter turnout was 94.5% in the Chamber election and 94.6% in the Senate election.[ 3] Elections were also held for the nine provincial councils and for the Council of the German Cultural Community . They were the first elections after the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18. This contributed to the success of the socialist parties and the green parties (Agalev and Ecolo).
The traditionally largest Christian People's Party saw significant losses, with only 43 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives . The result was considered an election upset.[ 2]
Chamber of Representatives [ edit ] Party Votes % Seats +/– Christian People's Party 1,165,239 19.34 43 –14 Party for Freedom and Progress 776,871 12.89 28 +6 Parti Socialiste 764,921 12.70 35 +4 Socialistische Partij 744,593 12.36 26 0 People's Union 588,436 9.77 20 +6 Liberal Reformist Party 480,380 7.97 24 +9 Social Christian Party 390,896 6.49 18 –7 FDF –Walloon Rally 253,720 4.21 8 –3 Democratic Union for the Respect of Labour 163,727 2.72 3 +2 Ecolo 151,826 2.52 2 +2 Agalev 138,575 2.30 2 +2 Communist Party of Belgium 138,978 2.31 2 –2 Vlaams Blok 66,424 1.10 1 0 Workers' Party of Belgium 45,804 0.76 0 New Christian Social Party 39,961 0.66 0 New PRL –PFF 35,925 0.60 0 New WALLON 31,061 0.52 0 New Party of German-speaking Belgians 8,397 0.14 0 0 Party of New Forces 7,581 0.13 0 0 Revolutionary Workers' League 7,110 0.12 0 0 Revolutionary Workers' League for Socialism 5,241 0.09 0 New BLANCO 4,118 0.07 0 New Direct Democracy 3,545 0.06 0 New Belgian National Party 3,357 0.06 0 New Francophone National Union 2,914 0.05 0 New Party for Christian Politics Alternative 1,785 0.03 0 New United Feminist Party 856 0.01 0 0 Appeal to Youth 838 0.01 0 New Democratic Radical Union 598 0.01 0 New List 12 588 0.01 0 New List 14 372 0.01 0 New Namur Independent Candidate 210 0.00 0 New List 13 180 0.00 0 New Total 6,025,027 100.00 212 0 Valid votes 6,025,027 92.66 Invalid/blank votes 477,043 7.34 Total votes 6,502,070 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 6,877,466 94.54 Source: Belgian Elections
Party Votes % Seats +/– Christian People's Party 1,149,353 19.26 22 –7 Party for Freedom and Progress 781,137 13.09 14 +3 Parti Socialiste 755,512 12.66 18 New Socialistische Partij 732,126 12.27 13 New People's Union 587,002 9.84 10 +3 Liberal Reformist Party 515,868 8.64 11 New Social Christian Party 414,733 6.95 8 –4 FDF –Walloon Rally 255,727 4.28 4 –3 Democratic Union for the Respect of Labour 164,131 2.75 1 +1 Ecolo 153,989 2.58 3 +3 Communist Party of Belgium 140,577 2.36 1 0 Agalev 121,016 2.03 1 New Vlaams Blok 71,733 1.20 0 0 Workers' Party of Belgium 49,577 0.83 0 New WALLON 30,632 0.51 0 New Party of German-speaking Belgians 8,770 0.15 0 0 Revolutionary Workers' League 8,450 0.14 0 0 Revolutionary Workers' League for Socialism 5,894 0.10 0 New Party of New Forces 5,317 0.09 0 New ECOLOS 2,796 0.05 0 New Francophone National Union 2,721 0.05 0 New Direct Democracy 2,295 0.04 0 New Party of New Forces (Wallonia) 2,092 0.04 0 New GOOSSE 1,511 0.03 0 New BELGE 1,326 0.02 0 New United Feminist Party 1,052 0.02 0 0 Protest from the Small Saver 737 0.01 0 New Democratic Radical Union 629 0.01 0 New List 12 626 0.01 0 New PAIX 611 0.01 0 New List 14 378 0.01 0 New List 13 111 0.00 0 New Total 5,968,429 100.00 106 0 Valid votes 5,968,429 91.78 Invalid/blank votes 534,297 8.22 Total votes 6,502,726 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 6,877,466 94.55 Source: Belgian Elections