1914 Belgian general election

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 24 May 1914.[1] The result was a victory for the Catholic Party, which won 41 of the 88 seats up for election in the Chamber of Representatives.[2]

1914 Belgian general election

← 1912 24 May 1914 1919 →

88 of the 186 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Charles de Broqueville Laurent Vandersmissen
Party Catholic Labour Liberal
Seats won 41 26 20
Popular vote 570,806 404,701 326,922
Percentage 42.77% 30.32% 24.50%

Government before election

De Broqueville I
Catholic

Government after election

De Broqueville I
Catholic

Prime Minister Charles de Broqueville

The Catholics had formed the government continuously since 1884; the incumbent de Broqueville government was in office since 1911.

Under the alternating system, elections were only held in four out of the nine provinces: Hainaut, Limburg, Liège and East Flanders. This was the last time this system was applied, as the next elections in 1919 saw the introduction of full four-year terms.

The elections occurred shortly before the outbreak of World War I. The newly elected legislature met for just one day in a special session: on 4 August 1914, when King Albert I addressed the United Chambers of Parliament upon the German invasion of Belgium. The parliament met again after the war in November 1918.

Results

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PartyVotes%Seats
Won
Catholic Party570,80642.7741
Belgian Labour Party404,70130.3226
Liberal Party326,92224.5020
Christene Volkspartij22,2191.661
Socialist dissidents2,0520.150
Catholic dissidents1,7860.130
Independents6,0950.460
Total1,334,581100.0088
Source: Belgian Elections

Seats up for election

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Seats in the provinces of Antwerp, Brabant, Luxembourg, Namur and West Flanders were not up for election.

Province Arrondissement(s) Chamber
Limburg Hasselt 3
Tongeren-Maaseik 4
East Flanders Aalst 5
Oudenaarde 3
Gent-Eeklo 12
Dendermonde 4
Sint-Niklaas 4
Hainaut Tournai-Ath 6
Charleroi 11
Thuin 3
Mons 7
Soignies 4
Liège Huy-Waremme 4
Liège 13
Verviers 5
Total 88

Elected members

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Apart from the re-elected members, the following six members were newly elected:

References

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  1. ^ Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (31 May 2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. p. 289. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p308