# 1965 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 23 May 1965. 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. Voter turnout was 91.6%. 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.

## Results
### Chamber of Representatives

| | Christian Social Party | 1,785,211 | 34.43 | 77 | –19 |
| | Belgian Socialist Party | 1,465,503 | 28.27 | 64 | –20 |
| | Party for Freedom and Progress | 1,119,991 | 21.60 | 48 | +28 |
| | People's Union | 346,860 | 6.69 | 12 | +7 |
| | Communist Party of Belgium | 236,721 | 4.57 | 6 | +1 |
| | Democratic Front of the Francophones | 68,966 | 1.33 | 3 | New |
| | Walloon Front | 24,245 | 0.47 | 1 | New |
| | Walloon Workers' Party | 23,582 | 0.45 | 1 | New |
| | de Socialist | 14,937 | 0.29 | 0 | New |
| | Catholic Party | 14,007 | 0.27 | 0 | New |
| | Flemish People's Party | 13,451 | 0.26 | 0 | New |
| | Walloon Communist Party | 13,321 | 0.26 | 0 | New |
| | Independent Social Party | 9,493 | 0.18 | 0 | New |
| | Independent Workers Union | 8,680 | 0.17 | 0 | New |
| | Flemish Democrats | 7,983 | 0.15 | 0 | New |
| | Walloon Democratic Front | 5,709 | 0.11 | 0 | New |
| | Afzonderlijk | 4,762 | 0.09 | 0 | New |
| | Francophone Union | 3,776 | 0.07 | 0 | New |
| | Independent National Party | 3,089 | 0.06 | 0 | New |
| | Animal Protection | 2,543 | 0.05 | 0 | New |
| | Belgian Workers' Party | 2,237 | 0.04 | 0 | New |
| | Independent Rally | 2,213 | 0.04 | 0 | New |
| | National Party | 1,889 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 |
| | Return to Liège | 1,552 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | Union of Independents | 1,014 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
| | Independent Middle Class | 958 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
| | Kaganovemus | 890 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
| | Trotsky Communists | 385 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | New Resistance Movement | 309 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | Independents | 493 | 0.01 | 0 | –1 |
| Total | Total | 5,184,770 | 100.00 | 212 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 5,184,770 | 92.89 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 396,941 | 7.11 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 5,581,711 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 6,091,534 | 91.63 | | |
| Source: Belgian Elections ||||||

### Senate

| | Christian Social Party | 1,785,191 | 34.89 | 44 | –3 |
| | Belgian Socialist Party | 1,449,482 | 28.33 | 31 | –14 |
| | Party for Freedom and Progress | 1,111,894 | 21.73 | 23 | +12 |
| | People's Union | 338,770 | 6.62 | 4 | +2 |
| | Communist Party of Belgium | 249,796 | 4.88 | 3 | +2 |
| | Democratic Front of the Francophones | 68,397 | 1.34 | 1 | New |
| | Walloon Democratic Front | 27,215 | 0.53 | 0 | New |
| | Walloon Workers' Party | 21,511 | 0.42 | 0 | New |
| | Independent Social Party | 12,180 | 0.24 | 0 | New |
| | Walloon Communist Party | 11,600 | 0.23 | 0 | New |
| | Francophone Union | 7,656 | 0.15 | 0 | New |
| | Independent Rally | 7,456 | 0.15 | 0 | New |
| | Independent Workers Union | 6,448 | 0.13 | 0 | New |
| | Catholic Party | 5,226 | 0.10 | 0 | New |
| | Belgian Workers' Party | 4,207 | 0.08 | 0 | New |
| | Independent National Party | 4,066 | 0.08 | 0 | New |
| | National Party | 2,885 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 |
| | Kaganovemus | 1,739 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | Independent Middle Class | 831 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
| | Flemish Democrats | 475 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 5,117,025 | 100.00 | 106 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 5,117,025 | 91.73 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 461,584 | 8.27 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 5,578,609 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 6,091,534 | 91.58 | | |
| Source: Belgian Elections ||||||

## Constituencies

The distribution of seats among the electoral districts was as follows for the Chamber of Representatives. Seats were reapportioned among the districts due to population growth, which was stronger in Flanders than in Wallonia, and due to several municipalities having been changed to another province following the 1962 language laws. For example, the Comines-Warneton municipalities were transferred from Ypres (West Flanders) to the newly created arrondissement of Mouscron (Hainaut), causing Ypres to lose one seat and Tournai-Ath-Mouscron to gain one seat.
| Province | Arrondissement(s) | Chamber | Change |
| Antwerp | Antwerp | 20 | – |
| Antwerp | Mechelen | 6 | – |
| Antwerp | Turnhout | 7 | +1 |
| Limburg | Hasselt | 6 | +1 |
| Limburg | Tongeren-Maaseik | 7 | +1 |
| East Flanders | Aalst | 6 | – |
| East Flanders | Oudenaarde | 3 | – |
| East Flanders | Gent-Eeklo | 13 | – |
| East Flanders | Dendermonde | 4 | – |
| East Flanders | Sint-Niklaas | 4 | – |
| West Flanders | Bruges | 5 | – |
| West Flanders | Roeselare-Tielt | 5 | – |
| West Flanders | Kortrijk | 6 | – |
| West Flanders | Ypres | 2 | –1 |
| West Flanders | Veurne-Diksmuide-Ostend | 5 | – |
| Brabant | Leuven | 8 | +1 |
| Brabant | Brussels | 33 | +1 |
| Brabant | Nivelles | 5 | – |
| Hainaut | Tournai-Ath-Mouscron | 7 | +1 |
| Hainaut | Charleroi | 11 | – |
| Hainaut | Thuin | 3 | –1 |
| Hainaut | Mons | 6 | –1 |
| Hainaut | Soignies | 4 | – |
| Liège | Huy-Waremme | 4 | – |
| Liège | Liège | 14 | – |
| Liège | Verviers | 5 | –1 |
| Luxembourg | Arlon-Marche-Bastogne | 3 | – |
| Luxembourg | Neufchâteau-Virton | 2 | –1 |
| Namur | Namur | 5 | – |
| Namur | Dinant-Philippeville | 3 | –1 |
| Total | Total | 212 | – |