2014 Belgian regional elections

Regional elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014 to choose representatives for the Flemish Parliament, Walloon Parliament, Brussels Parliament and the Parliament of the German-speaking Community. These elections were held on the same day as the 2014 European elections as well as the 2014 Belgian federal election.

The Parliament of the French Community is composed of all elected members of the Walloon Parliament (except German-speaking members) and 19 of the French-speaking members of the Brussels Parliament.

Flemish Parliament

All 124 members of the Flemish Parliament were elected. The five Flemish Region provinces (West Flanders, East Flanders, Antwerp, Flemish Brabant and Limburg) each are a constituency, plus the Brussels-Capital Region where those voting for a Dutch-language party can also vote in the Flemish election.

The incumbent Peeters II Government was made up of a coalition of CD&V, N-VA and sp.a. Minister-President Kris Peeters (CD&V) consistently polled as one of the most popular politicians in Flanders. He is a candidate to succeed himself as Minister-President. Other parties did not put forward an explicit candidate to be Minister-President.

Since the elections coincide with the federal elections, a lot of the campaigning and debates have been about federal matters. Nonetheless, the sixth state reform has transferred a lot of powers from the federal state to the regional level, such as child benefits.

Other major election topics include the reform of the secondary education, and mobility around Antwerp, in particular the Oosterweel Link.

Opinion polls Date Polling Firm VB Others Lead 25 May 2014 Flemish Elections 20.5 5.9 14.0 14.2 31.9 8.7 2.5 2.3 11.4 16 May De Standaard 20.0 8.4 14.4 13.1 31.8 9.5 2.6 0.2 11.8 25 Apr De Standaard 20.0 6.7 14.5 12.7 33.2 9.1 1.7 2.1 13.2 23 Apr Le Soir 17.6 10.3 13.5 13.5 32.8 8.7 3.4 0.2 15.2 15 Apr La Libre Belgique 16.9 9.9 13.6 13.5 32.9 7.6 4.1 1.5 16.0 21 Feb La Libre Belgique 17.6 9.8 14.6 12.8 32.3 7.3 3.7 1.9 14.7 13 Feb Le Soir 18.5 7.6 13.3 13.3 32.3 8.4 2.7 3.9 13.8 2014 24 Nov La Libre Belgique 17.9 9.9 14.1 12.4 30.8 8.0 2.0 4.9 12.9 21 Nov Le Soir 17.4 9.6 13.1 14.4 31.2 8.9 3.0 2.4 13.8 2 Sep La Libre Belgique 17.3 11.3 12.0 11.8 35.5 6.9 1.5 3.7 18.2 16 Jun Le Soir 15.7 9.4 13.9 13.2 35.0 7.7 - 5.1 19.3 25 May La Libre Belgique 15.9 12.9 14.1 12.9 32.8 6.5 2.5 2.4 16.9 25 May De Standaard 17.4 10.6 14.7 10.1 32.1 9.5 2.5 3.1 14.7 24 Mar Le Soir 16.7 10.5 13.6 12.3 33.6 7.7 2.8 2.8 16.9 16 Mar Het Laatste Nieuws 15.1 11.3 14.7 12.1 33.8 8.4 - 4.6 18.7 22 Feb La Libre Belgique 14.1 6.8 14.9 10.0 39.0 8.7 2.4 4.1 24.1 2013 30 Nov La Libre Belgique 16.5 10.7 14.4 9.6 35.4 8.0 3.6 1.8 18.9 14 Oct 2012 Provincial elections 21.4 8.9 13.6 14.6 28.5 8.3 2.1 2.5 7.1 14 Sep De Standaard 18.5 9.5 14.5 10.7 36.3 7.9 - 2.6 17.8 5 Sep La Libre Belgique 13.4 10.0 13.5 11.6 40.1 7.5 2.7 1.2 26.6 2012 2 Dec La Libre Belgique 12.6 8.4 13.9 12.6 39.8 7.5 - 5.2 25.9 2011 10 Jun 2010 Federal Elections 17.6 12.6 15.0 14.0 28.2 7.1 1.3 4.1 10.6 2 Apr De Standaard 22.2 14.0 15.9 17.6 14.8 8.1 - 7.4 4.6 2010 9 Oct De Standaard 24.4 12.8 15.0 16.7 13.5 8.5 - 9.1 7.7 7 Jun 2009 Flemish Elections 22.9 15.3 15.3 15.0 13.1 6.8 1.0 10.7 7.6

Main candidates National party Antwerp East Flanders Flemish Brabant Limburg West Flanders Brussels Major parties   Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) Kris Peeters Joke Schauvliege Peter Van Rompuy Jo Vandeurzen Hilde Crevits Bianca Debaets   Green (Groen) Wouter Van Besien Elisabeth Meuleman Hermes Sanctorum Johan Danen Bart Caron Elke Van den Brandt   New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) Liesbeth Homans Matthias Diependaele Ben Weyts Jan Peumans Geert Bourgeois Karl Vanlouwe   Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vld) Bart Somers Mathias De Clercq Gwendolyn Rutten Marino Keulen Bart Tommelein Ann Brusseel   Socialist Party–Differently (sp.a) Caroline Gennez Freya Van den Bossche Bruno Tobback Ingrid Lieten John Crombez Yamila Idrissi   Flemish Interest (Vlaams Belang) Anke Van dermeersch Guy D'haeseleer Joris Van Hauthem Chris Janssens Stefaan Sintobin Frédéric Erens Minor parties   Workers' Party (PVDA+) Jos D'Haese Dirk Goemaere Line De Witte Gaby Colebunders Bart Desmedt —   Pirate Party Kjell Segers Sarah Van Liefferinge David Knapen — Jonas Degrave —

Results

The winner is by far the N-VA, especially compared to the 2009 regional elections but also to the 2010 federal elections. Groen also gained votes, whereas CD&V, sp.a, Open Vld and especially Vlaams Belang lost votes. LDD did not compete and is no longer in parliament.

The Union of Francophones (UF) narrowly reached the 5% election threshold in Flemish Brabant, thereby keeping their only seat.

The incumbent government parties N-VA, CD&V and sp.a would have a large majority; it was however not expected that sp.a and N-VA will be together in a coalition.

Initially, N-VA and CD&V were negotiating to form a Flemish Government. However, since Open Vld was needed for a federal coalition and they wanted to be in both or neither governments, they joined the Flemish negotiations. On 25 July 2014, the new Bourgeois Government was sworn in, led by Minister-President Geert Bourgeois (N-VA). Outgoing Minister-President Kris Peeters (CD&V) became minister in the federal Michel Government.

In detail

The candidate receiving the most preference votes was Liesbeth Homans (N-VA) in Antwerp, with 159,965 votes, ahead of Kris Peeters (CD&V).

The highest percentage of votes in a municipality (apart from the French-speaking list in the Brussels Periphery) was achieved by N-VA in Schilde (near Antwerp city) with 51,27% of the votes.

Party Total Antwerp Brussels East Flanders Flemish Brabant Limburg West Flanders Votes Perc. Seats Votes Perc. Seats Votes Perc. Seats Votes Perc. Seats Votes Perc. Seats Votes Perc. Seats Votes Perc. Seats N-VA1,339,94331.8843411,00136.4614 9,508 18.31 1300,63830.659204,13929.437176,51232.155238,14829.787 CD&V 860,685 20.48 27 225,891 20.04 7 6,284 12.10 1 179,572 18.31 5 118,669 17.11 4 127,656 23.25 4 202,622 25.34 6 Open Vld 594,464 14.15 19 108,209 9.60 3 12,461 24.00 2 169,726 17.30 5 133,362 19.23 4 66,269 12.07 2 104,442 13.06 3 sp.a 587,901 13.99 18 128,760 11.42 4 9,558 18.41 1 139,640 14.24 4 85,105 12.27 2 94,721 17.25 3 130,119 16.27 4 Groen 365,779 8.70 10 111,234 9.87 3 10,660 20.53 1 88,977 9.07 2 64,836 9.35 2 32,713 5.96 1 57,361 7.17 1 Vlaams Belang 248,840 5.92 6 79,588 7.06 2 2,960 5.70 0 62,881 6.41 2 30,531 4.40 0 32,392 5.90 1 40,488 5.06 1 PVDA+ 106,114 2.53 0 43,694 3.88 0 colspan="3" 23,029 2.35 0 12,212 1.76 0 14,257 2.60 0 12,922 1.62 0 UF 34,741 0.83 1 colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="3" 34,471 5.01 1 colspan="3" colspan="3" Piratenpartij 25,986 0.62 0 7,514 0.67 0 colspan="3" 7,142 0.73 0 5,572 0.80 0 colspan="3" 5,758 0.72 0 GENOEG 10,612 0.25 0 3,521 0.31 0 colspan="3" 2,177 0.22 0 1,398 0.20 0 1,475 0.27 0 1,449 0.18 0 R.O.S.S.E.M. 9,937 0.24 0 2,733 0.24 0 colspan="3" 2,236 0.23 0 1,302 0.19 0 1,259 0.23 0 2,407 0.30 0 ROEL 5,228 0.12 0 1,306 0.12 0 colspan="3" 1,017 0.10 0 674 0.10 0 872 0.16 0 1,359 0.17 0 VCP 5,026 0.12 0 682 0.06 0 colspan="3" 909 0.09 0 1,007 0.15 0 979 0.18 0 1,449 0,18 0 MAMA 3,227 0.08 0 3,227 0.29 0 colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="3" SD&P 2,853 0.07 0 colspan="3" colspan="3" 2,853 0.29 0 colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="3" V.I.T.A.L. 617 0.01 0 colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="3" 617 0.08 0 PENSIO(E)N PLUS 482 0.01 0 colspan="3" 482 0.93 0 colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="3" Total 4,202,435 100.00 124 1,127,360 100.00 33 51,919 100.00 6 980,797 100.00 27 693,548 100.00 20 549,105 100.00 16 799,733 100.00 22

Walloon Parliament

All 75 members of the Walloon Regional Parliament were elected. The elections took place in 13 electoral districts.

The incumbent Demotte II Government, led by Rudy Demotte, is a coalition of the Socialist Party (PS), the Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH) and Ecolo. The Reformist Movement (MR) was the only opposition party.

Opinion polls Date Polling Firm PS MR Ecolo cdH PTB PP FDF Others Lead 25 May 2014 Walloon Elections 30.9 26.7 8.6 15.2 5.8 4.9 2.5 5.5 4.2 15 May La Libre Belgique 28.7 21.8 9.4 11.6 8.5 5.8 3.1 11.1 6.9 23 Apr Le Soir 28.9 23.3 10.9 13.7 9.2 7.0 2.5 4.5 5.6 15 Apr La Libre Belgique 29.3 22.6 11.0 9.4 8.1 5.4 2.7 11.5 6.7 21 Feb La Libre Belgique 28.0 24.1 10.6 10.2 7.6 5.9 2.3 11.3 3.9 13 Feb Le Soir 28.4 23.3 11.4 12.5 6.7 5.6 2.0 10.1 5.1 2014 24 Nov La Libre Belgique 30.3 22.1 11.2 12.7 4.1 4.0 3.3 12.3 8.1 21 Nov Le Soir 29.3 21.7 11.2 14.0 4.1 2.8 2.2 14.7 7.6 2 Sep La Libre Belgique 30.3 23.5 12.7 12.8 3.7 2.1 3.1 11.8 6.8 16 Jun Le Soir 28.7 22.2 13.0 12.6 4.5 - 2.2 16.8 6.5 25 May La Libre Belgique 28.6 24.0 14.7 12.9 4.6 1.4 2.8 11.0 4.6 22 Feb La Libre Belgique 30.2 24.2 12.9 12.3 4.2 2.5 3.5 10.2 6.0 2013 30 Nov La Libre Belgique 30.6 23.5 11.3 12.7 5.4 2.4 2.1 12.0 7.1 14 Oct 2012 Provincial elections 32.0 27.7 13.2 17.0 2.8 - 2.4 5.0 4.3 2012 2011 10 Jun 2010 Federal Elections 37.6 22.2 12.3 14.6 1.9 3.1 – 8.2 15.4 2010 7 Jun 2009 Walloon Elections 32.8 23.4 18.5 16.1 1.2 – - 7.9 9.4

Results

PS, cdH, Ecolo lost votes, whereas MR gained votes and PTB-GO! as well as Parti Populaire are new parties in parliament.

Within two weeks following the elections, the Socialist Party and the Humanist Democratic Centre started negotiations for a new government.

In detail Party Hainaut Liège Luxembourg Namur Walloon Brabant Votes Perc. Seats Votes Perc. Seats Votes Perc. Seats Votes Perc. Seats Votes Perc. Seats PS279,64738.1915184,46930.118 38,295 23.23 183,08227.874 45,723 19.47 2 MR 162,608 22.21 8 157,274 25.67 7 46,547 28.23 2 81,334 27.29 497,34941.464 CDH 93,321 12.75 5 80,881 13.20 349,46030.002 58,036 19.47 2 28,314 12.06 1 ECOLO 48,790 6.66 0 57,193 9.33 2 14,034 8.51 0 28,454 9.55 1 27,555 11.74 1 PTB/PVDA–GO! 42,629 5.82 0 50,682 8.27 2 2,848 1.73 0 14,749 4.95 0 6,592 2.81 0 PP 35,229 4.81 0 33,649 5.49 1 7,771 4.71 0 13,025 4.37 0 9,563 4.07 0 FDF 16,843 2.30 0 13,281 2.17 0 3,270 1.98 0 7,389 2.48 0 10,945 4.66 0 Total 28 23 5 11 8

Province Constituency PS MR cdH Ecolo PTB PP Total Hainaut Charleroi 5 3 1 0 0 0 9 Mons 3 1 1 0 0 0 5 Soignies 2 1 1 0 0 0 4 Thuin 2 1 0 0 0 0 3 Tournai-Ath-Mouscron 3 2 2 0 0 0 7 Liège Huy-Waremme 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 Liège 5 3 2 1 1 1 13 Verviers 1 2 1 1 1 0 6 Luxembourg Arlon-Marche-en-Famenne-Bastogne 1 1 1 0 0 0 3 Neufchâteau-Virton 0 1 1 0 – 0 2 Namur Dinant-Philippeville 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 Namur 2 2 2 1 0 0 7 Walloon Brabant Nivelles 2 4 1 1 0 0 8 Total 30 25 13 4 2 1 75

Brussels Parliament

All 89 members of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region were elected. There are separate Dutch-language party lists and French-language party lists. Those voting for a Dutch-language party can also cast a vote for the Flemish Parliament election.

Opinion polls