1900 Belgian general election

Full general elections were held in Belgium on 27 May 1900.[1]

1900 Belgian general election

27 May 1900
All 152 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
First party Second party Third party   Leader Paul de Smet de Naeyer August De Winne Party Catholic Labour Liberal Seats won 86 32 31 Popular vote 993,945 461,295 464,959 Percentage 48.46% 22.49% 22.67%
Government before election de Smet de Naeyer II Catholic Government after election de Smet de Naeyer II Catholic

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They were the first elections under a proportional system (using the D'Hondt method) instead of a majority system.[2] Belgium became the first country to adopt proportional representation as basis of its electoral system. To make the system possible, smaller electoral districts (arrondissements) were grouped into a single electoral district (a group of arrondissements). The introduction of proportional representation was beneficial to the Liberal Party, which significantly increased its number of seats. The Liberal Party previously suffered losses after the introduction of universal suffrage in 1894.

The Catholic Party thus lost seats but retained its absolute majority, with 86 of the 152 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 44 of the 76 seats in the Senate.[3]