Election Name: | 1958 Belgian general election |
Country: | Belgium |
Type: | parliamentary |
Ongoing: | no |
Previous Election: | 1954 Belgian general election |
Previous Year: | 1954 |
Next Election: | 1961 Belgian general election |
Next Year: | 1961 |
Seats For Election: | 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives |
Election Date: | 1 June 1958 |
Leader1: | Gaston Eyskens |
Leader Since1: | Candidate for PM |
Party1: | Christian Social Party (Belgium, defunct) |
Last Election1: | 95 seats, 41.15% |
Seats1: | 104 |
Seat Change1: | 9 |
Popular Vote1: | 2,465,549 |
Percentage1: | 46.50% |
Swing1: | 5.35% |
Leader2: | Achille Van Acker |
Leader Since2: | Candidate for PM |
Party2: | Belgian Socialist Party |
Last Election2: | 82 seats, 37.34% |
Seats2: | 80 |
Seat Change2: | 2 |
Popular Vote2: | 1,897,646 |
Percentage2: | 35.79% |
Swing2: | 1.55% |
Leader3: | Maurice Destenay |
Leader Since3: | 1954 |
Party3: | Liberal Party (Belgium) |
Last Election3: | 24 seats, 12.15% |
Seats3: | 20 |
Seat Change3: | 4 |
Popular Vote3: | 585,999 |
Percentage3: | 11.05% |
Swing3: | 1.10% |
Leader4: | N/A |
Leader Since4: | N/A |
Party4: | LSK |
Last Election4: | 5 seats, 2.10% |
Seats4: | 5 |
Popular Vote4: | 111,284 |
Percentage4: | 2.10% |
Color4: | 800080 |
Leader5: | Ernest Burnelle |
Leader Since5: | 1954 |
Party5: | Communist |
Last Election5: | 4 seats, 3.57% |
Seats5: | 2 |
Seat Change5: | 2 |
Popular Vote5: | 100,145 |
Percentage5: | 1.89% |
Swing5: | 1.68% |
Leader6: | Frans Van der Elst |
Leader Since6: | 1955 |
Party6: | VU |
Last Election6: | New |
Seats6: | 1 |
Seat Change6: | New |
Popular Vote6: | 104,823 |
Percentage6: | 1.98% |
Swing6: | New |
Color6: | FFFF00 |
Government | |
Posttitle: | Government after election |
Before Election: | van Acker IV |
Before Party: | BSP/PSB-Lib |
After Election: | G. Eyskens II |
After Party: | Christian Social Party (Belgium, defunct) |
General elections were held in Belgium on 1 June 1958.[1] The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 104 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 53 of the 106 seats in the Senate.[2] Voter turnout was 93.6% in the Chamber election and 93.7% in the Senate election.[3] Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.
The election took place in a political crisis known as the Second School War. The outgoing anti-clerical "purple" government of the Socialist and Liberal Party, led by Achille Van Acker, reversed policies of the previous Catholic-led government regarding private schools. The Van Acker government lost the election, leading again to a Catholic government led by Gaston Eyskens. That government, which was a few seats short of a majority in the Chamber, would be the last single-party government in Belgian history. Later in 1958, the School War was ended by a cross-party agreement and the Liberal Party joined the government.