1965 Belgian general election

1965 Belgian general election

← 1961 23 May 1965 1968 →
212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
First party Second party Third party   Leader Pierre Harmel Léo Collard Omer Vanaudenhove Party Christian Social Socialist Freedom and Progress Leader since Candidate for PM 1959 1961 Last election 96 seats, 41.46% 84 seats, 36.72% New Seats won 77 64 48 Seat change 19 20 New Popular vote 1,785,211 1,403,107 1,119,991 Percentage 34.45% 28.28% 21.61% Swing 7.01% 8.44% New   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Frans Van der Elst Ernest Burnelle Paul Brien Party VU Communist DéFI Leader since 1955 1954 1964 Last election 5 seats, 3.46% 5 seats, 3.08% New Seats won 12 6 3 Seat change 7 1 New Popular vote 346,860 247,311 68,966 Percentage 6.69% 4.77% 1.33% Swing 3.23% 1.69% New
Chamber seat distribution by constituency
Government before election Lefèvre CVP/PSC-BSP/PSB Government after election Harmel CVP/PSC-BSP/PSB

Politics of Belgium
Constitution Taxation Constitutional Court
Monarchy Monarch (list) Philippe Duchess of Brabant Elisabeth of Belgium Crown Council Royal Family
Federal Parliament Senate President: Stephanie D'Hose Chamber of Representatives President: Eliane Tillieux
Federal Cabinet De Croo Government Prime Minister: Alexander De Croo
Judiciary Administrative jurisdictions Council of State Highest court Court of Cassation Appellate courts Court of appeal Court of labour Trial courts Court of assizes Tribunal of first instance Civil tribunal Correctional tribunal Family and juvenile tribunal Sentence enforcement tribunal Labour tribunal Enterprise tribunal Minor crimes Minor claims Police tribunal Justice of the peace
Recent elections European 2009 2014 2019 2024 Federal 2010 2014 2019 2024 Regional 2009 2014 2019 2024 Local 2006 2012 2018 2024 Political parties
Subdivisions Communities and regions Provinces Arrondissements Municipalities
Foreign relations France-Belgium relations Belgium-Germany relations Belgium-United Kingdom relations Belgium-Netherlands relations Belgium–Luxembourg relations Politics of the European Union
Belgium portal Other countries
v t e

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.