Belgian general election, 2014

Belgian federal election, 2014

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All 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives 76 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Bart De Wever Elio Di Rupo Charles Michel Party N-VA PS MR Leader since 2004 1999 2011 Leader's seat Antwerp Hainaut Walloon Brabant Last election 27 seats, 17.4% 26 seats, 13.7% 18 seats, 9.3% Seats won 33 23 20 Seat change 6 3 2 Popular vote 1,366,414 787,165 650,290 Percentage 20.36% 11.67% 9.64% Swing 2.86 2.03 0.36   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Wouter Beke Gwendolyn Rutten Bruno Tobback Party CD&V Open Vld sp.a Leader since 2010 2012 2011 Leader's seat Limburg Flemish Brabant Flemish Brabant Last election 17 seats, 10.8% 13 seats, 8.6% 13 seats, 9.2% Seats won 18 14 13 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 783,060 659,582 595,486 Percentage 10.85% 9.78% 8.83% Swing 0.76 1.14 0.41
Colours denote the party receiving a plurality of votes per electoral canton
Federal Government before election Di Rupo Government Elected Federal Government Michel Government

Di Rupo Government

Michel Government

Federal elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected, whereas the Senate was no longer directly elected following the 2011–2012 state reform. These were the first elections held under King Philippe's reign.

As part of the state reform adopted 19 December 2013, the date of election will from now on coincide with the European elections, which the Council of the EU has scheduled for 22–25 May 2014. The regional elections in Belgium already legally coincide with the European elections, consequently Belgians will vote for three elections on the same day.

On 25 April 2014, a declaration to amend the Constitution was adopted, formally dissolving parliament and triggering new elections within 40 days.

The previous 2010 election resulted in a victory for Flemish nationalist N-VA. The coalition formation stalemate went on for a record-breaking 541 days. Eventually, the negotiating parties agreed upon a sixth Belgian state reform and the Di Rupo Government was finally formed on 6 December 2011 and comprised PS, MR, CD&V, Open VLD, sp.a and cdH.

The state reform has the following consequences for the election in 2014:

The campaign topics largely focused on socio-economic reforms: job creation and unemployment, tax reform, pensions, ... This campaign also featured an unprecedented level of quantified programmes by political parties. For example, the N-VA released its "V plan" and CD&V its "3D plan".