| Election Name: | 1965 Belgian general election |
| Country: | Belgium |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1961 Belgian general election |
| Previous Year: | 1961 |
| Next Election: | 1968 Belgian general election |
| Next Year: | 1968 |
| Seats For Election: | 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives |
| Election Date: | 23 May 1965 |
| Leader1: | Pierre Harmel |
| Leader Since1: | Candidate for PM |
| Party1: | Christian Social Party (Belgium, defunct) |
| Last Election1: | 96 seats, 41.46% |
| Seats1: | 77 |
| Seat Change1: | 19 |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,785,211 |
| Percentage1: | 34.45% |
| Swing1: | 7.01% |
| Leader2: | Léo Collard |
| Leader Since2: | 1959 |
| Party2: | Belgian Socialist Party |
| Last Election2: | 84 seats, 36.72% |
| Seats2: | 64 |
| Seat Change2: | 20 |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,403,107 |
| Percentage2: | 28.28% |
| Swing2: | 8.44% |
| Leader3: | Omer Vanaudenhove |
| Leader Since3: | 1961 |
| Colour3: | 0073CF |
| Party3: | Freedom and Progress |
| Last Election3: | New |
| Seats3: | 48 |
| Seat Change3: | New |
| Popular Vote3: | 1,119,991 |
| Percentage3: | 21.61% |
| Swing3: | New |
| Leader4: | Frans Van der Elst |
| Leader Since4: | 1955 |
| Party4: | VU |
| Last Election4: | 5 seats, 3.46% |
| Seats4: | 12 |
| Seat Change4: | 7 |
| Popular Vote4: | 346,860 |
| Percentage4: | 6.69% |
| Swing4: | 3.23% |
| Color4: | FFFF00 |
| Leader5: | Ernest Burnelle |
| Leader Since5: | 1954 |
| Party5: | Communist |
| Last Election5: | 5 seats, 3.08% |
| Seats5: | 6 |
| Seat Change5: | 1 |
| Popular Vote5: | 247,311 |
| Percentage5: | 4.77% |
| Swing5: | 1.69% |
| Leader6: | Paul Brien |
| Leader Since6: | 1964 |
| Party6: | DéFI |
| Last Election6: | New |
| Seats6: | 3 |
| Seat Change6: | New |
| Popular Vote6: | 68,966 |
| Percentage6: | 1.33% |
| Swing6: | New |
| Government | |
| Posttitle: | Government after election |
| Before Election: | Lefèvre |
| Before Party: | CVP/PSC-BSP/PSB |
| After Election: | Harmel |
| After Party: | CVP/PSC-BSP/PSB |
General elections were held in Belgium on 23 May 1965.[1] The result was a victory for the Christian Social Party, which won 77 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 44 of the 106 seats in the Senate.[2] Voter turnout was 91.6%.[3] Elections for the nine provincial councils were also held.
The elections followed the implementation of the 1962 language laws. As a result, the Flemish nationalist People's Union made big gains, as well as the new Democratic Front of the Francophones which was founded as a response to the language laws.
The election also followed the founding of the Party for Freedom and Progress, succeeding the Liberal Party. The new party aimed to reach a broader voter base, in which it succeeded by more than doubling its number of seats.
Despite both government parties losing seats, they retained their sizeable majority and continued governing.
The distribution of seats among the electoral districts was as follows for the Chamber of Representatives. Seats were reapportioned among the districts due to population growth, which was stronger in Flanders than in Wallonia, and due to several municipalities having been changed to another province following the 1962 language laws. For example, the Comines-Warneton municipalities were transferred from Ypres (West Flanders) to the newly created arrondissement of Mouscron (Hainaut), causing Ypres to lose one seat and Tournai-Ath-Mouscron to gain one seat.
| Province | Arrondissement(s) | Chamber | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | – | |||
| 6 | – | |||
| 7 | +1 | |||
| 6 | +1 | |||
| 7 | +1 | |||
| 6 | – | |||
| 3 | – | |||
| 13 | – | |||
| 4 | – | |||
| 4 | – | |||
| 5 | – | |||
| 5 | – | |||
| 6 | – | |||
| 2 | –1 | |||
| 5 | – | |||
| 8 | +1 | |||
| 33 | +1 | |||
| 5 | – | |||
| Tournai-Ath-Mouscron | 7 | +1 | ||
| 11 | – | |||
| 3 | –1 | |||
| 6 | –1 | |||
| 4 | – | |||
| 4 | – | |||
| 14 | – | |||
| 5 | –1 | |||
| 3 | – | |||
| 2 | –1 | |||
| 5 | – | |||
| 3 | –1 | |||
| Total | 212 | – | ||