1936 Belgian general election|
|
|
|
|
First party
|
Second party
|
Third party
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Leader
|
Emile Vandervelde
|
Paul van Zeeland
|
Léon Dens
|
| Party
|
Labour
|
Catholic
|
Liberal
|
| Leader since
|
1933
|
Candidate for PM
|
1935
|
| Last election
|
73 seats, 37.03%
|
79 seats, 38.42%
|
24 seats, 14.08%
|
| Seats won
|
70
|
61
|
23
|
| Seat change
|
3
|
18
|
1
|
| Popular vote
|
758,485
|
653,717
|
292,970
|
| Percentage
|
32.11%
|
27.67%
|
12.40%
|
| Swing
|
4.92%
|
10.75%
|
1.68%
|
|
|
|
Fourth party
|
Fifth party
|
Sixth party
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Leader
|
Léon Degrelle
|
Staf De Clercq
|
Joseph Jacquemotte
|
| Party
|
Rexist
|
VNV
|
Communist
|
| Leader since
|
1935
|
1933
|
1934
|
| Last election
|
New
|
New
|
3 seats, 2.90%
|
| Seats won
|
21
|
16
|
9
|
| Seat change
|
New
|
New
|
6
|
| Popular vote
|
271,481
|
164,253
|
143,223
|
| Percentage
|
11.49%
|
7.06%
|
6.06%
|
| Swing
|
New
|
New
|
3.16%
|
|
|
General elections were held in Belgium on 24 May 1936.[1]
The result was a victory for the Belgian Labour Party, which won 70 of the 202 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 39 of the 101 seats in the Senate.[2] Voter turnout was 94.7%.[3]
Despite the rise of far-right and far-left parties, Paul van Zeeland continued as Prime Minister leading a government of national unity, composed of the three major parties (Catholics, Socialists and Liberals).
Results
Chamber of Representatives
|
|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
|---|
| Belgian Labour Party | 758,485 | 32.11 | 70 | –3 |
| Catholic Party | 653,717 | 27.67 | 61 | –18 |
| Liberal Party | 292,970 | 12.40 | 23 | –1 |
| Rexist Party | 271,481 | 11.49 | 21 | New |
| Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond | 166,737 | 7.06 | 16 | +8 |
| Communist Party of Belgium | 143,223 | 6.06 | 9 | +6 |
| Christian Democratic Party | 22,224 | 0.94 | 2 | New |
| Realists | 14,989 | 0.63 | 0 | New |
| People's Candidates | 7,997 | 0.34 | 0 | New |
| Socialist dissidents | 7,050 | 0.30 | 0 | 0 |
| Agrarians | 4,989 | 0.21 | 0 | New |
| Revolutionary Socialist Action | 2,082 | 0.09 | 0 | New |
| Independent National Party | 2,072 | 0.09 | 0 | New |
| Farmers | 1,995 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 |
| VNV dissidents | 1,618 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 |
| Clock | 1,518 | 0.06 | 0 | New |
| Isolated | 1,153 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 |
| Pigeon Fanciers | 918 | 0.04 | 0 | New |
| Taxpayers Bloc | 898 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 |
| Radical Party | 709 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooperative Bloc | 692 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| Merchants | 391 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
| Producers | 225 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| Quaedvlieg | 67 | 0.00 | 0 | New |
| Independents | 4,236 | 0.18 | 0 | New |
| Total | 2,362,436 | 100.00 | 202 | +15 |
|
| Valid votes | 2,362,436 | 94.07 | |
|---|
| Invalid/blank votes | 148,810 | 5.93 | |
|---|
| Total votes | 2,511,246 | 100.00 | |
|---|
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,652,707 | 94.67 | |
|---|
| Source: Belgian Elections[4] |
Senate
|
|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
|---|
| Belgian Labour Party | 769,498 | 33.46 | 39 | 0 |
| Catholic Party | 667,739 | 29.04 | 34 | –8 |
| Liberal Party | 297,280 | 12.93 | 11 | 0 |
| Rexist Party | 250,272 | 10.88 | 8 | New |
| Vlaamsch Nationaal Verbond | 160,212 | 6.97 | 5 | +4 |
| Communist Party of Belgium | 110,855 | 4.82 | 4 | +4 |
| Christian Democratic Party | 19,477 | 0.85 | 0 | New |
| Other parties | 4,520 | 0.20 | 0 | – |
| Independents | 19,655 | 0.85 | 0 | New |
| Total | 2,299,508 | 100.00 | 101 | +8 |
|
| Valid votes | 2,299,508 | 91.67 | |
|---|
| Invalid/blank votes | 209,055 | 8.33 | |
|---|
| Total votes | 2,508,563 | 100.00 | |
|---|
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,652,707 | 94.57 | |
|---|
| Source: Belgian Elections[5] |
Constituencies
The distribution of seats among the electoral districts of the Chamber of Representatives was as follows.[6] Several arrondissements got one or more additional seats. Roeselare-Tielt lost one seat, which was a rare occurrence since population generally increased throughout the Belgian territory with each census.
References