The Belgian Socialist Party (, , PSB; , , BSP) was a social-democratic political party which existed in Belgium from 1945 to 1978. During its time in office, a number of progressive social reforms were introduced.
The BSP was founded by activists from the Belgian Labour Party (1885–1940), which was the first Belgian socialist party. It ceased to function during the Second World War, while Belgium was under Nazi occupation. Its main support bases were the co-operative and trade union movements, and it won relatively more support in Wallonia. Like most Belgian political organisations, the party supported greater integration with the European Economic Community, albeit in a socialist context.
As linguistic and community issues became more divisive, the Belgian Socialist Party split into two new entities: the Flemish Socialist Party for the Flemish community and the Parti Socialiste (PS) for the Francophone community.
Presidents
Presidents BSP/PSB PeriodPresident 1942–1945 Achille Van Acker 1945–1959 Max Buset 1959–1971 Leo Collard Co-Presidents (from 1971) Period Dutch speaking co-President French speaking co-President 1971–1973 Edmond Leburton 1973–1975 Jos Van Eynde André Cools 1975–1977 Willy Claes André Cools 1977–1978 Karel Van Miert André Cools
Election results +Election yearVotesSeatsChangeNumberPercentage1946746,73831.57% 19491,496,53929.76% 319501,705,78134.51% 719541,927,01537.34% 919581,897,64635.79% 219611,933,42436.72% 419651,403,10728.28% 2019681,403,10727.10% 51971549,483 623,395
1,172,87810.40% 11.80%
22,20% 919741,401,72526.66% 91977602,132 725,513
1,327,64510.80% 13.01%
23,81% 2 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 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.
See also Agusta scandal Charter of Quaregnon Socialist Party (francophone Belgium), also known as the Parti Socialiste or PS of Belgium, a French-speaking social democratic political party Vooruit, the Flemish social-democratic party in Belgium. It was formerly known as SP, then as SP.a General Labour Federation of Belgium (FGTB/ABVV), the main post-war socialist trade union federation
References
External links