1904 Belgian general election

Partial general elections were held in Belgium on 29 May 1904.^[1] The result was a victory for the Catholic Party, which won 38 of the 81 seats in the Chamber of Representatives.^[2]

1904 Belgian general election

← 1902 29 May 1904 1906 →
81 of the 166 seats in the Chamber of Representatives 43 of 87 seats in the Senate
First party Second party Third party   Leader Paul de Smet de Naeyer Georges Maes Party Catholic Liberal Labour Seats won 38 22 19 Popular vote 486,643 283,411 297,847 Percentage 43.53% 25.35% 26.64%
Government before election de Smet de Naeyer II Catholic Government after election de Smet de Naeyer II Catholic

Under the alternating system, Chamber elections were only held in the provinces of Hainaut, Limburg, Liège and East Flanders and Senate elections were only held in the remaining five provinces, being Antwerp, Brabant, Luxembourg, Namur and West Flanders.

The main issue in the election was "the hostility of the Liberals to the growth of clerical influence, particularly in educational and political affairs."^[3]

Results

Chamber

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				Won
	Catholic Party	486,643	43.53	38
	Belgian Labour Party	297,847	26.64	19
	Liberal Party	283,411	25.35	22
	Catholic Dissidents	17,391	1.56	1
	Christene Volkspartij	20,761	1.86	1
	Socialist dissidents	5,449	0.49	0
	Agricultural Federation	3,254	0.29	0
	Independents	3,184	0.28	0
Total		1,117,940	100.00	81
Source: Belgian Elections

Senate

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				Won	Total
	Catholic Party	511,745	55.54	25	37
	Liberal Party	352,028	38.21	16	39
	Belgian Labour Party	37,570	4.08	1	5
	National Independents	19,991	2.17	1	1
	Radical Party			0	4
	Social Radical Party			0	1
Total		921,334	100.00	43	87
Source: Belgian Elections

References

1. Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (31 May 2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft. p. 289. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p308
3. Garner, J. W. (1904). "Record of Political Events". Political Science Quarterly. 19 (4): 746. doi:10.2307/2140340. ISSN 0032-3195.