# 1981 Belgian general election

General elections were held in Belgium on 8 November 1981. Voter turnout was 94.5% in the Chamber election and 94.6% in the Senate election. Elections were also held for the nine provincial councils and for the Council of the German Cultural Community. They were the first elections after the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18. This contributed to the success of the socialist parties and the green parties (Agalev and Ecolo).
The traditionally largest Christian People's Party saw significant losses, with only 43 of the 212 seats in the Chamber of Representatives. The result was considered an election upset.

## Results
### Chamber of Representatives

| | Christian People's Party | 1,165,239 | 19.34 | 43 | –14 |
| | Party for Freedom and Progress | 776,871 | 12.89 | 28 | +6 |
| | Parti Socialiste | 764,921 | 12.70 | 35 | +4 |
| | Socialistische Partij | 744,593 | 12.36 | 26 | 0 |
| | People's Union | 588,436 | 9.77 | 20 | +6 |
| | Liberal Reformist Party | 480,380 | 7.97 | 24 | +9 |
| | Social Christian Party | 390,896 | 6.49 | 18 | –7 |
| | FDF–Walloon Rally | 253,720 | 4.21 | 8 | –3 |
| | Democratic Union for the Respect of Labour | 163,727 | 2.72 | 3 | +2 |
| | Ecolo | 151,826 | 2.52 | 2 | +2 |
| | Agalev | 138,575 | 2.30 | 2 | +2 |
| | Communist Party of Belgium | 138,978 | 2.31 | 2 | –2 |
| | Vlaams Blok | 66,424 | 1.10 | 1 | 0 |
| | Workers' Party of Belgium | 45,804 | 0.76 | 0 | New |
| | Christian Social Party | 39,961 | 0.66 | 0 | New |
| | PRL–PFF | 35,925 | 0.60 | 0 | New |
| | WALLON | 31,061 | 0.52 | 0 | New |
| | Party of German-speaking Belgians | 8,397 | 0.14 | 0 | 0 |
| | Party of New Forces | 7,581 | 0.13 | 0 | 0 |
| | Revolutionary Workers' League | 7,110 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 |
| | Revolutionary Workers' League for Socialism | 5,241 | 0.09 | 0 | New |
| | BLANCO | 4,118 | 0.07 | 0 | New |
| | Direct Democracy | 3,545 | 0.06 | 0 | New |
| | Belgian National Party | 3,357 | 0.06 | 0 | New |
| | Francophone National Union | 2,914 | 0.05 | 0 | New |
| | Party for Christian Politics Alternative | 1,785 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | United Feminist Party | 856 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 |
| | Appeal to Youth | 838 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | Democratic Radical Union | 598 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | List 12 | 588 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | List 14 | 372 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | Namur Independent Candidate | 210 | 0.00 | 0 | New |
| | List 13 | 180 | 0.00 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 6,025,027 | 100.00 | 212 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 6,025,027 | 92.66 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 477,043 | 7.34 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 6,502,070 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 6,877,466 | 94.54 | | |
| Source: Belgian Elections ||||||

### Senate

| | Christian People's Party | 1,149,353 | 19.26 | 22 | –7 |
| | Party for Freedom and Progress | 781,137 | 13.09 | 14 | +3 |
| | Parti Socialiste | 755,512 | 12.66 | 18 | New |
| | Socialistische Partij | 732,126 | 12.27 | 13 | New |
| | People's Union | 587,002 | 9.84 | 10 | +3 |
| | Liberal Reformist Party | 515,868 | 8.64 | 11 | New |
| | Social Christian Party | 414,733 | 6.95 | 8 | –4 |
| | FDF–Walloon Rally | 255,727 | 4.28 | 4 | –3 |
| | Democratic Union for the Respect of Labour | 164,131 | 2.75 | 1 | +1 |
| | Ecolo | 153,989 | 2.58 | 3 | +3 |
| | Communist Party of Belgium | 140,577 | 2.36 | 1 | 0 |
| | Agalev | 121,016 | 2.03 | 1 | New |
| | Vlaams Blok | 71,733 | 1.20 | 0 | 0 |
| | Workers' Party of Belgium | 49,577 | 0.83 | 0 | New |
| | WALLON | 30,632 | 0.51 | 0 | New |
| | Party of German-speaking Belgians | 8,770 | 0.15 | 0 | 0 |
| | Revolutionary Workers' League | 8,450 | 0.14 | 0 | 0 |
| | Revolutionary Workers' League for Socialism | 5,894 | 0.10 | 0 | New |
| | Party of New Forces | 5,317 | 0.09 | 0 | New |
| | ECOLOS | 2,796 | 0.05 | 0 | New |
| | Francophone National Union | 2,721 | 0.05 | 0 | New |
| | Direct Democracy | 2,295 | 0.04 | 0 | New |
| | Party of New Forces (Wallonia) | 2,092 | 0.04 | 0 | New |
| | GOOSSE | 1,511 | 0.03 | 0 | New |
| | BELGE | 1,326 | 0.02 | 0 | New |
| | United Feminist Party | 1,052 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 |
| | Protest from the Small Saver | 737 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | Democratic Radical Union | 629 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | List 12 | 626 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | PAIX | 611 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | List 14 | 378 | 0.01 | 0 | New |
| | List 13 | 111 | 0.00 | 0 | New |
| Total | Total | 5,968,429 | 100.00 | 106 | 0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 5,968,429 | 91.78 | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 534,297 | 8.22 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 6,502,726 | 100.00 | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 6,877,466 | 94.55 | | |
| Source: Belgian Elections ||||||