General elections were held in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

on 10 December 1857,''Codebook'' Constituency-level Elections Archive, 2003Sternberger, D, Vogel, B & Nohlen, D (1969) ''Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band I: Europa - Erster Halbband'', p105 the first full general elections since

1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...

. The elections were called by royal order of 12 November 1857, dissolving the Chamber of Representatives that had convened in a new session only two days earlier. Going into the elections, Liberals held a majority in the Senate and the Catholics in the Chamber of Representatives. The unionist (Catholic–liberal) De Decker government resigned and a liberal government led by

Charles Rogier Charles Latour Rogier (; 17 August 1800 – 27 May 1885) was a Belgian liberal statesman and a leader in the Belgian Revolution of 1830. He served as the prime minister of Belgium on two occasions: from 1847 to 1852, and again from 1857 to 1 ...

took over shortly before the elections were called. In the elections for the Chamber of Representatives the result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 70 of the 108 seats. The Liberal Party now had a majority in both chambers of parliament. Voter turnout was 79.3%, although only 90,543 men (2% of the country's population) were eligible to vote.

Campaign

Twelve of the 108 seats were uncontested, of which the Liberals won three and the Catholics nine.

Results

References

{{Belgian elections 1850s elections in Belgium

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...