Belgian Socialist Party
Political party in Belgium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Belgian Socialist Party (French: Parti Socialiste belge, pronounced [paʁti sɔsjalist bɛlʒ], PSB; Dutch: Belgische Socialistische Partij, pronounced [ˈbɛlɣisə ˌsoːɕaːˈlɪstisə pɑrˈtɛi], BSP) was a social-democratic political party which existed in Belgium from 1945 to 1978. During its time in office, a number of progressive social reforms were introduced.[2]
André Cools (last)
The fist and rose emblem used by the party from 1973.[1] | |
| President | Achille Van Acker (first) André Cools (last) |
| Founder | Paul-Henri Spaak |
| Founded | May 1945 |
| Dissolved | October 1978 |
| Preceded by | Belgian Labour Party |
| Succeeded by | Socialist Party (Flemish) Socialist Party (Francophone) |
| Headquarters | Brussels, Belgium |
| Trade union wing | General Federation of Belgian Labour |
| Ideology | Social democracy Democratic socialism |
| Political position | Centre-left to left-wing |
| European affiliation | Confederation of the Socialist Parties |
| International affiliation | Socialist International |
| Colours | Red |
The BSP was founded by activists from the Belgian Labour Party (1885–1940), which was the first Belgian socialist party. It ceased to function during the Second World War, while Belgium was under Nazi occupation. Its main support bases were the co-operative and trade union movements, and it won relatively more support in Wallonia. Like most Belgian political organisations, the party supported greater integration with the European Economic Community, albeit in a socialist context.[3]
As linguistic and community issues became more divisive, the Belgian Socialist Party split into two new entities: the Flemish Socialist Party for the Flemish community and the Parti Socialiste (PS) for the Francophone community.
Presidents
| Presidents BSP/PSB[4] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | President | ||||||||
| 1942–1945 | Achille Van Acker | ||||||||
| 1945–1959 | Max Buset | ||||||||
| 1959–1971 | Leo Collard | ||||||||
| Co-Presidents (from 1971)[5] | |||||||||
| Period | Dutch speaking co-President | French speaking co-President | |||||||
| 1971–1973 | Jos Van Eynde | Edmond Leburton | |||||||
| 1973–1975 | Jos Van Eynde | André Cools | |||||||
| 1975–1977 | Willy Claes | André Cools | |||||||
| 1977–1978 | Karel Van Miert | André Cools | |||||||
Election results
| Election year | Votes | Seats | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percentage | |||
| 1946 | 746,738 | 31.57% | 69 / 202 |
 |
| 1949 | 1,496,539 | 29.76% | 66 / 212 |
 3 |
| 1950 | 1,705,781 | 34.51% | 73 / 212 |
 7 |
| 1954 | 1,927,015 | 37.34% | 82 / 212 |
9 |
| 1958 | 1,897,646 | 35.79% | 80 / 212 |
2 |
| 1961 | 1,933,424 | 36.72% | 84 / 212 |
4 |
| 1965 | 1,403,107 | 28.28% | 64 / 212 |
20 |
| 1968 | 1,403,107 | 27.10% | 59 / 212 |
5 |
| 1971 | 549,483
623,395
|
10.40%
11.80%
|
25 / 212
25 / 212
50 / 212 [a] |
9 |
| 1974 | 1,401,725 | 26.66% | 59 / 212 [b] |
9 |
| 1977 | 602,132
725,513
|
10.80%
13.01%
|
34 / 212
27 / 212
61 / 212 [a] |
2 |
a From the 1971 general election, the Belgian Socialist Party ran separate lists for Flanders and Wallonia; however, they still existed under a single party. The letters in bold thus show the results of the combined lists and consequently the true result of the Belgian Socialist Party in each election
b Whilst the Belgian Socialist Party also ran separate lists for Flanders and Wallonia in the 1974 general election, there is no information on the results of separate lists, hence only the result for the combined lists is shown.
See also
- Agusta scandal
- Charter of Quaregnon
- Socialist Party (francophone Belgium), also known as the Parti Socialiste or PS of Belgium, a French-speaking social democratic political party
- Vooruit, the Flemish social-democratic party in Belgium. It was formerly known as SP, then as SP.a
- General Labour Federation of Belgium (FGTB/ABVV), the main post-war socialist trade union federation
