1886 Belgian general election

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 8 June 1886.[1][2] In the elections for the Chamber of Representatives the result was a victory for the Catholic Party, which won 98 of the 138 seats.[2]

1886 Belgian general election

← 1884 8 June 1886 (1886-06-08) 1888 →

69 of the 138 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
70 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Auguste Beernaert
Party Catholic Liberal
Leader since Candidate for PM
Seats before 86 seats 52 seats
Seats won 32 37
Seats after 98 40
Seat change Increase 12 Decrease 12
Popular vote 17,979 18,965
Percentage 48.67% 51.33%

Government before election

Beernaert
Catholic

Government after election

Beernaert
Catholic

Under the alternating system, elections were only held in four out of the nine provinces: Hainaut, Limburg, Liège and East Flanders.

The Catholics continued their gains, after the 1884 elections that gave them a victory over the Liberals. With the defeat of the Liberals by the Catholics in the eight-member arrondissement of Ghent, the Catholics now had all "Flemish" seats. Catholics also gained both seats of the arrondissement of Waremme and two out of seven in the arrondissement of Charleroi.

Results

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Chamber of Representatives

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PartyVotes%Seats
WonTotal+/–
Liberal Party18,96551.333740–12
Catholic Party17,97948.673298+12
Total36,944100.00691380
Total votes36,944
Registered voters/turnout57,96263.74
Source: Mackie & Rose,[3] Sternberger et al.

References

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  1. ^ Codebook Constituency-level Elections Archive, 2003
  2. ^ a b Sternberger, D, Vogel, B & Nohlen, D (1969) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band I: Europa - Erster Halbband, p105
  3. ^ Thomas T. Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) The International Almanac of Electoral History, Macmillan, pp50–51