1978 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 17 December 1978. The Christian People's Party emerged as the largest party, with 57 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 29 of the 106 seats in the Senate. Voter turnout was 94.8%. Elections were also held for the nine provincial councils and for the Council of the German Cultural Community.

1978 Belgian general election

17 December 1978
212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
First party Second party Third party   Leader Paul Vanden Boeynants André Cools Karel Van Miert Party CVP PS sp.a Leader since Candidate for PM 1978 1978 Last election 56 seats, 26.20% New New Seats won 57 31 26 Seat change 1 New New Popular vote 1,447,112 689,876 684,976 Percentage 26.14% 12.46% 12.37% Swing 0.06% New New   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   PRLW Leader Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb Willy De Clercq André Damseaux Party cdH Open Vld PRLW Leader since 1977 1977 1973 Last election 24 seats, 7.29% 17 seats, 8.54% 16 seats, 3.34% Seats won 25 22 15 Seat change 1 5 1 Popular vote 560,440 573,387 256,685 Percentage 10.12% 10.36% 4.64% Swing 2.83% 1.82% 1.30%
Seat distribution by constituency for the Chamber of Deputies.
Government before election Tindemans II CVP-PSC-BSP/PSB-VU-FDF Government after election Vanden Boeynants II CVP-PSC-PS-BSP-VU-FDF

The snap elections were called after Prime Minister Leo Tindemans resigned over the Egmont pact, which would have transformed Belgium into a federal state. Vlaams Blok participated for the first time, which was formed out of disagreement within the People's Union over concessions in the Egmont pact.

Results

Chamber of Representatives

The primary six Flemish political parties and their results for the House of Representatives (Kamer). From 1978 to 2014, in percentages for the complete 'Kingdom'.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian People's Party	1,447,112	26.14	57	+1
	Belgian Socialist Party (Wallonia)	689,876	12.46	31	+31
	Belgian Socialist Party (Flanders)	684,976	12.37	26	–1
	Party for Freedom and Progress	573,387	10.36	22	+5
	Christian Social Party	560,440	10.12	25	+1
	People's Union	388,762	7.02	14	–6
	Democratic Front of the Francophones	259,019	4.68	11	0
	Party of Reforms and Freedom of Wallonia	256,685	4.64	15	–1
	Communist Party of Belgium	180,234	3.26	4	+4
	Walloon Rally	128,153	2.32	4	0
	Vlaams Blok	75,635	1.37	1	New
	Democratic Union for the Respect of Labour	48,616	0.88	1	+1
	All Power to the Workers	43,483	0.79	0	New
	Liberal Party (Wallonia)	41,460	0.75	0	New
	PRLW–Party for Reforms and Freedom	31,280	0.57	0	0
	Belgian Socialist Party (Luxembourg)	30,222	0.55	1	New
	Ecolo	21,224	0.38	0	0
	Walloon Liberal Party	9,861	0.18	0	New
	Party of German-speaking Belgians	9,032	0.16	0	0
	ECOLOG	8,360	0.15	0	0
	Revolutionary Workers' League (Flanders)	6,383	0.12	0	0
	Walloon Rally (Luxembourg)	6,493	0.12	0	New
	Agalev	5,556	0.10	0	0
	Ecology–Politics	3,922	0.07	0	New
	Liberal, Social and Democratic Party	3,678	0.07	0	New
	Belgian National Party	3,465	0.06	0	New
	Revolutionary Workers' League (Wallonia)	2,597	0.05	0	0
	Francophone Liberal Party	2,313	0.04	0	New
	Belgian Progressive Party	2,123	0.04	0	New
	Democratic and Progressive Union	1,843	0.03	0	0
	Green	1,761	0.03	0	New
	United Feminist Party	1,686	0.03	0	0
	Progressive Front–Ecologists	1,512	0.03	0	New
	Kaganovemus	1,376	0.02	0	0
	Party for Free Communication and Environmental Protection	993	0.02	0	New
	Party of New Forces	729	0.01	0	New
	Liberal Party	698	0.01	0	New
	PDE	375	0.01	0	New
	PDRT	311	0.01	0	New
Total		5,535,631	100.00	212	0
Valid votes		5,535,631	91.61
Invalid/blank votes		507,058	8.39
Total votes		6,042,689	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,366,655	94.91
Source: Belgian Elections, Global Elections Database

Senate

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Christian People's Party	1,420,777	25.93	29	+1
	Belgian Socialist Party (Wallonia)	685,307	12.51	17	–2
	Belgian Socialist Party (Flanders)	678,776	12.39	13	+1
	Party for Freedom and Progress	572,535	10.45	11	+2
	Christian Social Party	535,939	9.78	12	+1
	People's Union	384,562	7.02	7	–3
	Party of Reforms and Freedom of Wallonia-PL	330,155	6.03	6	-1
	Democratic Front of the Francophones	266,713	4.87	7	New
	Communist Party of Belgium	182,711	3.33	1	0
	Walloon Rally	123,794	2.26	2	0
	Vlaams Blok	80,809	1.47	0	New
	Democratic Union for the Respect of Labour	51,571	0.94	0	New
	All Power to the Workers	44,379	0.81	0	New
	Ecolo	43,883	0.80	0	0
	Belgian Socialist Party (Luxembourg)	30,837	0.56	1	New
	Party of German-speaking Belgians	11,148	0.20	0	0
	Walloon Liberal Party	11,081	0.20	0	New
	Walloon Rally (Luxembourg)	6,659	0.12	0	New
	Revolutionary Workers' League	3,744	0.07	0	New
	Liberal, Social and Democratic Party	3,239	0.06	0	New
	Belgian Progressive Party	2,804	0.05	0	New
	Francophone Liberal Party	2,640	0.05	0	New
	Democratic and Progressive Union	2,221	0.04	0	0
	United Feminist Party	2,045	0.04	0	0
	Revolutionary Communist Party	917	0.02	0	New
Total		5,479,246	100.00	106	0
Valid votes		5,479,246	90.65
Invalid/blank votes		565,299	9.35
Total votes		6,044,545	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,366,655	94.94
Source: Belgian Elections