electionstracker

Belgium 1961 federal election

What was the result of the 1961 federal election in Belgium?

Christian Social Party won 96 of 212 seats with 41.5% of the vote. 92.3% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Belgium
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Christian Social Party won 96 of 212 seats with 41.5% of the vote; 92.3% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 1.3 points on 1958.

  • Christian Social Party 96 −8 seats 41.5% −5.0 points
  • Belgian Socialist Party 84 +4 seats 36.7% +0.9 points
  • Liberal Party 20 0 seats 12.3% +1.2 points
  • People's Union 5 +4 seats 3.5% +1.5 points
  • Communist Party of Belgium 5 +3 seats 3.1% +1.2 points
  • Catholics Lists 1 0.8%
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Belgium 1958 federal election, party by party.

107 of 212 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 41.5%

    Share of the vote won by Christian Social Party

    Christian Social Party won 96 of 212 seats. A majority needs 107.

  2. +4 seats

    Seats gained by Belgian Socialist Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1958. Christian Social Party lost 8 seats.

  3. 92.3%

    Voter turnout

    Down 1.3 points on 1958.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Christian Social Party96−841.5−5.02,182,642
Belgian Socialist Party84+436.7+0.91,933,424
Liberal Party20012.3+1.2649,376
People's Union5+43.5+1.5182,407
Communist Party of Belgium5+33.1+1.2162,238
Unnamed party with one seat10.946,244
Catholics Lists10.842,450
Largest party without seats00.633,174

± is the change against the Belgium 1958 federal election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Christian Social Party 2,182,642
  • Belgian Socialist Party 1,933,424
  • Liberal Party 649,376
  • People's Union 182,407
  • Communist Party of Belgium 162,238
  • Unnamed party with one seat 46,244
  • Catholics Lists 42,450
  • Largest party without seats 33,174

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

92.3% of the 6,036,165 registered voters cast a ballot (5,573,840 ballots), down 1.3 points on 1958. 5,265,025 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1946 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Christian Social Party41.5% of votes45.3% of seats
  • Belgian Socialist Party36.7% of votes39.6% of seats
  • Liberal Party12.3% of votes9.4% of seats
  • People's Union3.5% of votes2.4% of seats
  • Communist Party of Belgium3.1% of votes2.4% of seats
  • Catholics Lists0.8% of votes0.5% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 4.1 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.1 by votes and 2.7 by seats; Christian Social Party led Belgian Socialist Party by 4.8 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of