 Thefist 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 toleft-wing |
| European affiliation | Confederation of the Socialist Parties |
| International affiliation | Socialist International |
| Colours | Red |
TheBelgian Socialist Party (French:Parti Socialiste belge,pronounced[paʁtisɔsjalistbɛlʒ],PSB;Dutch:Belgische Socialistische Partij,pronounced[ˈbɛlɣisəˌsoːɕaːˈlɪstisəpɑrˈtɛi],BSP) was asocial-democratic political party which existed inBelgium from 1945 to 1978. During its time in office, a number of progressive social reforms were introduced.[2]
The BSP was founded by activists from theBelgian Labour Party (1885–1940), which was the first Belgian socialist party. It ceased to function during theSecond World War, while Belgium was underNazi occupation. Its main support bases were theco-operative andtrade union movements, and it won relatively more support inWallonia. Like most Belgian political organisations, the party supported greater integration with theEuropean 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: theFlemish Socialist Party for theFlemish community and theParti Socialiste (PS) for theFrancophone community.
| 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 [nl] | Edmond Leburton | |||||||
| 1973–1975 | Jos Van Eynde | André Cools | |||||||
| 1975–1977 | Willy Claes | André Cools | |||||||
| 1977–1978 | Karel Van Miert | André Cools | |||||||
| 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.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Media related toParti Socialiste (Belgium) at Wikimedia Commons
| Leadership |  | |
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| Former partyformation | ||
| Related organisations |
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| Symbols | ||
| Belgiansocialist pillar |
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