1981 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 8 November 1981.[1] Voter turnout was 94.5% in the Chamber election and 94.6% in the Senate election.[2] 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.

1981 Belgian general election

8 November 1981
212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
Leader Mark Eyskens André Cools Willy De Clercq Party CVP PS PVV 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%   Leader Karel Van Miert Jean Gol Vic Anciaux Party SP 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%
Colours denote the winning party in each electoral district (for the Chamber of Deputies).
Government before election M. Eyskens CVP-PSC-PS-SP Elected Government Martens V CVP-PSC-PVV-PRL

Results

Chamber of Deputies

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	733,137	12.17	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-RW	253,720	4.21	8	–3
Agalev	138,575	2.30	2	+2
Ecolo	132,312	2.20	2	+2
UDRT/RAD	130,526	2.17	3	+2
Communist Party of Belgium	138,978	2.31	2	–2
Vlaams Blok	66,424	1.10	1	0
PVDA	40,446	0.67	0	New
PSC/CSP	39,961	0.66	0	New
PRL/PFF	35,925	0.60	0	New
SP/PS	31,784	0.53	0	New
WALLON	31,061	0.52	0	New
RAD	28,661	0.48	0	New
ECOLO-J	10,946	0.18	0	New
Party of German-speaking Belgians	8,397	0.14	0	0
RAL	7,110	0.12	0	New
ECOLOS	5,858	0.10	0	New
LRT-PLS	5,241	0.09	0	New
FNK	5,102	0.08	0	New
UDRT	4,540	0.08	0	New
BLANCO	4,118	0.07	0	New
DD	3,545	0.06	0	New
UNF	2,914	0.05	0	New
PVDA/PTB	2,898	0.05	0	New
ECO-BXL	2,710	0.04	0	New
FN	2,479	0.04	0	New
PTB	2,460	0.04	0	New
BNP	2,263	0.04	0	New
PCPA	1,785	0.03	0	New
PNB-BNP	954	0.02	0	New
PFU	856	0.01	0	0
AAJ	838	0.01	0	New
URD	598	0.01	0	New
LISTE-12	588	0.01	0	New
LISTE-14	372	0.01	0	New
CIN	210	0.00	0	New
LISTE-13	180	0.00	0	New
PNB	140	0.00	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	477,043	–	–	–
Total	6,502,070	100	212	0
Source: Belgian Election Results

Senate

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-RW	255,727	4.28	4	–3
UDRT/RAD	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
PVDA/PTB	49,577	0.83	0	New
WALLON	30,632	0.51	0	New
Party of German-speaking Belgians	8,770	0.15	0	0
RAL	8,450	0.14	0	New
LRT-PLS	5,894	0.10	0	New
FNK	5,317	0.09	0	New
ECOLOS	2,796	0.05	0	New
UNF	2,721	0.05	0	New
DD	2,295	0.04	0	New
FN	2,092	0.04	0	New
GOOSSE	1,511	0.03	0	New
BELGE	1,326	0.02	0	New
PFU	1,052	0.02	0	0
PKS	737	0.01	0	New
URD	629	0.01	0	New
LISTE-12	626	0.01	0	New
PAIX	611	0.01	0	New
LISTE-14	378	0.01	0	New
LISTE-13	111	0.00	0	New
Invalid/blank votes	534,297	–	–	–
Total	6,502,726	100	106	0
Source: Election Results

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p289 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p291