1977 Belgian general election

1977 Belgian general election

17 April 1977
212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
First party Second party Third party   Leader Leo Tindemans André Cools Karel Van Miert Party CVP Socialist Socialist Leader since Candidate for PM 1973 1977 Last election 50 seats, 23.25% 59 seats, 26.66%[a] 59 seats, 26.66%[a] Seats won 56 34 27 Seat change 6 15 22 Popular vote 1,460,757 602,132 725,513 Percentage 26.20% 10.80% 13.01% Swing 2.95% 15.86% 13.65%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   PSC VU PVV Leader Georges Gramme Hugo Schiltz Frans Grootjans Party cdH VU Open Vld Leader since 1976 1975 1973 Last election 22 seats, 9.09% 22 seats, 10.20% 30 seats, 15.19% Seats won 24 20 17 Seat change 2 2 13 Popular vote 406,694 559,567 475,917 Percentage 7.29% 10.04% 8.54% Swing 1.80% 0.16% 6.65%
Results by constituency for the Chamber of Representatives
Government before election Tindemans I CVP-PSC-PVV-PRL Government after election Tindemans II CVP-PSC-BSP/PSB-VU-FDF

General elections were held in Belgium on 17 April 1977. The result was a victory for the Christian People's Party, which won 56 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 28 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 95.1%. Elections were also held for the nine provincial councils and for the Council of the German Cultural Community.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Belgian Socialist Party		BSP (Flanders)	725,513	13.01	27	New
			PSB-BSP	602,132	10.80	34	New
			PSB (Wallonia)	145,771	2.61	0	0
		Total		1,473,416	26.43	61	+2
	Christian People's Party			1,460,757	26.20	56	+6
	People's Union			559,567	10.04	20	–2
	Party for Freedom and Progress		PVV	475,917	8.54	17	New
			PLP of Wallonia	5,220	0.09	0	–
		Total		481,137	8.63	17	–13
	Christian Social Party			406,694	7.29	24	+2
	Party of Reforms and Freedom of Wallonia		PRLW	191,196	3.43	16	New
			PRLW–PRF	107,015	1.92	0	New
			PRLW–Liberal Party	92,178	1.65	0	New
		Total		390,389	7.00	16	New
	Democratic Front of the Francophones			263,104	4.72	11	New
	Communist Party of Belgium		KPB/PCB	62,410	1.12	0	–2
			PCB–UDP	51,930	0.93	0	New
			PCB (Wallonia)	37,104	0.67	2	New
		Total		151,444	2.72	2	0
	PSC–CSP			138,361	2.48	0	New
	Walloon Rally			132,773	2.38	4	–7
	PSB–Walloon Rally			33,598	0.60	1	New
	All Power to the Workers		AMADA (Flanders)	22,919	0.41	0	New
			TPO (Wallonia)	1,980	0.04	0	New
		Total		24,899	0.45	0	0
	Revolutionary Workers' League		RAL (Flanders)	8,562	0.15	0	New
			LRT-RAL	3,127	0.06	0	New
			LRT (Wallonia)	2,905	0.05	0	New
		Total		14,594	0.26	0	New
	ECOLOG			11,839	0.21	0	New
	Party of German-speaking Belgians			7,735	0.14	0	0
	ECOLOG–Snow White and Seven Dwarfs Party			4,321	0.08	0	New
	Ecolo			3,834	0.07	0	New
	United Feminist Party		PFU (Wallonia)	1,514	0.03	0	New
			VFP (Flanders)	967	0.02	0	New
		Total		2,481	0.04	0	0
	Agalev			2,435	0.04	0	New
	Francophone Women's Front			2,099	0.04	0	New
	Centre Party–Belgian Radical Union			1,547	0.03	0	0
	Return to Liège			1,421	0.03	0	0
	Union of Belgians			1,083	0.02	0	New
	People's National Front			994	0.02	0	New
	Kaganovemus			884	0.02	0	0
	ECOLOGIQUE			777	0.01	0	New
	Ecologie Wallonia			605	0.01	0	New
	Communist Party of Belgium – Marxist–Leninist			533	0.01	0	New
	United Independent Party			443	0.01	0	New
	Flanders–Brussels 77			377	0.01	0	New
	Union of Marxist–Leninist Communists of Belgium			222	0.00	0	New
	UC–MEUNIER			199	0.00	0	New
	Revolutionary Workers' Party			175	0.00	0	New
	Parti Pris			169	0.00	0	New
	European Workers Party			152	0.00	0	New
Total				5,575,058	100.00	212	0
Valid votes				5,575,058	92.82
Invalid/blank votes				431,153	7.18
Total votes				6,006,211	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				6,316,662	95.09
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian People's Party	1,446,806	26.18	28	+1
	Belgian Socialist Party (Wallonia)	756,401	13.69	19	New
	Belgian Socialist Party (Flanders)	719,533	13.02	12	New
	People's Union	562,894	10.19	10	0
	Christian Social Party	522,613	9.46	11	+1
	Party for Freedom and Progress	472,645	8.55	9	New
	Party of Reforms and Freedom of Wallonia	316,292	5.72	7	New
	Democratic Front of the Francophones	246,367	4.46	6	New
	Walloon Rally	158,642	2.87	2	New
	Communist Party of Belgium	108,000	1.95	1	0
	Liberal Party	70,458	1.28	0	New
	PCB–UDP	50,749	0.92	0	New
	PSB–Walloon Rally	33,945	0.61	1	New
	All Power to the Workers	27,693	0.50	0	New
	Party of German-speaking Belgians	10,213	0.18	0	0
	Ecolo	7,558	0.14	0	New
	Party for Freedom and Progress (Wallonia)	5,305	0.10	0	0
	United Feminist Party	3,413	0.06	0	0
	Agalev	3,270	0.06	0	New
	Union of Belgians	1,182	0.02	0	New
	United Independent Party	896	0.02	0	New
	Revolutionary Workers' League	387	0.01	0	New
	Belgian Radical Union	207	0.00	0	0
	Other parties	502	0.01	0	–
Total		5,525,971	100.00	106	0
Valid votes		5,525,971	91.91
Invalid/blank votes		486,091	8.09
Total votes		6,012,062	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,012,062	100.00
Source: Belgian Elections