Country: | Belgium |
Type: | parliamentary |
Previous Election: | 1978 Belgian general election |
Previous Year: | 1978 |
Next Election: | 1985 Belgian general election |
Next Year: | 1985 |
Seats For Election: | 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives |
Election Date: | 8 November 1981 |
Leader1: | Mark Eyskens |
Leader Since1: | Candidate for PM |
Party1: | Christian People's Party (Belgium) |
Last Election1: | 57 seats, 26.14% |
Seats1: | 43 |
Seat Change1: | 14 |
Popular Vote1: | 1,165,239 |
Percentage1: | 19.34% |
Swing1: | 6.80% |
Leader2: | André Cools |
Leader Since2: | 1978 |
Party2: | Socialist Party (francophone Belgium) |
Last Election2: | 31 seats, 12.46% |
Seats2: | 35 |
Seat Change2: | 4 |
Popular Vote2: | 733,137 |
Percentage2: | 12.17% |
Swing2: | 0.29% |
Leader3: | Willy De Clercq |
Leader Since3: | 1977 |
Party3: | Party for Freedom and Progress (Flanders) |
Last Election3: | 22 seats, 10.36% |
Seats3: | 28 |
Seat Change3: | 6 |
Popular Vote3: | 776,871 |
Percentage3: | 12.89% |
Swing3: | 2.53% |
Leader4: | Karel Van Miert |
Leader Since4: | 1978 |
Party4: | Socialist Party (Flanders) |
Last Election4: | 26 seats, 12.37% |
Seats4: | 26 |
Popular Vote4: | 744,593 |
Percentage4: | 12.36% |
Swing4: | 0.01% |
Image5: | PRL |
Leader5: | Jean Gol |
Leader Since5: | 1979 |
Party5: | Liberal Reformist Party (Belgium) |
Last Election5: | 15 seats, 4.64% |
Seats5: | 24 |
Seat Change5: | 9 |
Popular Vote5: | 480,380 |
Percentage5: | 7.97% |
Swing5: | 3.33% |
Leader6: | Vic Anciaux |
Leader Since6: | 1979 |
Party6: | VU |
Last Election6: | 14 seats, 7.02% |
Seats6: | 20 |
Seat Change6: | 6 |
Popular Vote6: | 588,436 |
Percentage6: | 9.77% |
Swing6: | 2.75% |
Color6: | FFFF00 |
Government | |
Posttitle: | Government after election |
Before Election: | M. Eyskens |
Before Party: | CVP-PSC-PS-SP |
After Election: | Martens V |
After Party: | CVP-PSC-PVV-PRL |
General elections were held in Belgium on 8 November 1981.[1] [2] Voter turnout was 94.5% in the Chamber election and 94.6% in the Senate election.[3] 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. The result was considered an election upset.