2024 Belgian federal election

Federal elections are scheduled to be held in Belgium on 9 June 2024.[1] The 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives will be elected for a five-year term. European and regional elections are scheduled to take place on the same day.[2]

2024 Belgian federal election
Belgium
9 June 2024
All 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives
76 seats needed for a majority
PartyLeader Current seats
N-VA Bart De Wever 24
PS Paul Magnette 19
VB Tom Van Grieken 18
MR Georges-Louis Bouchez 14
Ecolo R. Maouane & J.-M. Nollet 13
CD&V Sammy Mahdi 12
PVDA-PTB Raoul Hedebouw 12
Open Vld Tom Ongena 12
Vooruit Melissa Depraetere 9
Groen N. Naji & J. Vaneeckhout 8
LE Maxime Prévot 5
DéFI François De Smet 2
Incumbent Prime Minister
Alexander De Croo
Open Vld
Politics of Belgium
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Electoral system

The 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected in 11 multi-member constituencies, being the ten provinces and Brussels, with between 4 and 24 seats. Seats are allocated using the D'Hondt method, with an electoral threshold of 5% per constituency.

Representatives elected from the five Flemish Region provinces, Antwerp (24), East Flanders (20), Flemish Brabant (15), Limburg (12) and West Flanders (16), automatically belonged to the Dutch-speaking language group in parliament, whereas those elected from the five provinces of Wallonia, Hainaut (17), Liège (14), Luxembourg (4), Namur (7) and Walloon Brabant (5), formed the French-speaking language group. The 16 members elected in Brussels can choose to join either group. Apportionment of seats is done every ten years in accordance with population data, last by royal order in 2022, when Brussels and Namur each gained a seat while Hainaut and Liège lost a seat.[3]

The 60-member Senate is composed of 50 representatives from the regional and community parliaments, plus 10 co-opted senators proportionally divided among parties based on the result of the federal election.

All Belgian citizens aged 18 or over are obligated to participate in the election. Non-Belgian citizens residing in Belgium (regardless of EU citizenship) cannot vote, whereas Belgian citizens living abroad can register to vote.

Voting is done electronically in all 19 Brussels and 9 German-speaking municipalities as well as in 159 Flemish municipalities. Voting is done by paper ballot in 141 Flemish municipalities as well as in all 253 (non-German-speaking) Walloon municipalities.

Timetable
9 FebruaryStart of the "waiting period" (sperperiode) running until the day of the election, during which political propaganda and expenses are strictly regulated
1 AprilThe electoral roll is fixed by municipal authorities
13 AprilDeadline for submitting candidate lists
TBDThe Parliament is formally dissolved
25 MayFinal day for the official announcement of the election and the convocation letter to voters
5 JunePolling day for Belgians residing abroad in the embassies and consular posts
9 JunePolling day (from 8am until 2pm, or until 4pm where voting is done electronically)
TBDConstitutive session of the newly elected Chamber of Representatives

Parties and leaders

Parties running

The following parties are already represented in parliament. On the 13th of April we will know the full list of participating parties.

PartyIdeologyPolitical positionLeader2019 resultStatus
N-VAConservatism Flemish nationalismCentre-right to right-wingBart De Wever
25 / 150
Opposition
PSSocial democracyCentre-leftPaul Magnette
20 / 150
Governing coalition
Vlaams BelangRight-wing populism Flemish nationalismRight-wing to far-rightTom Van Grieken
18 / 150
Opposition
Reformist MovementLiberalismCentre-rightGeorges-Louis Bouchez
14 / 150
Governing coalition
EcoloGreen politicsCentre-leftRajae Maouane and Jean-Marc Nollet
13 / 150
Governing coalition
Christian Democratic and FlemishChristian democracyCentre to centre-rightSammy Mahdi
12 / 150
Governing coalition
Workers' Party of BelgiumSocialismLeft-wing to far-leftRaoul Hedebouw
12 / 150
Opposition
Open VldLiberalismCentre-rightTom Ongena
12 / 150
Governing coalition
VooruitSocial democracyCentre-leftMelissa Depraetere
9 / 150
Governing coalition
GroenGreen politicsCentre-leftNadia Naji and Jeremie Vaneeckhout
8 / 150
Governing coalition
Les EngagésSocial liberalismCentreMaxime Prévot
5 / 150
Opposition
DéFIRegionalism and social liberalismCentre to centre-rightFrançois De Smet
2 / 150
Opposition

Lead candidates

The following candidates are the first on the respective party list (lijsttrekker / tête de liste) per constituency.

Dutch-speaking constituencies
Party  Antwerp  East Flanders  Flemish Brabant  Limburg  West Flanders  Brussels
CD&V [4] Annelies Verlinden Vincent Van Peteghem Sammy Mahdi Nawal Farih Nathalie Muylle Together with Les Engagés
Groen [5] Meyrem Almaci Petra De Sutter Dieter Van Besien Dirk Opsteyn Matti Vandemaele Together with Ecolo
N-VA [6] Bart De Wever Anneleen Van Bossuyt Theo Francken Steven Vandeput Jean-Marie Dedecker
Open Vld [7] Paul Van Tigchelt Alexander De Croo Irina De Knop Steven Coenegrachts Vincent Van Quickenborne Together with MR
PVDA [8] Peter Mertens Robin Tonniau Kemal Bilmez Kim De Witte Natalie Eggermont Together with PTB
Vlaams Belang [9] Lode Vereeck Barbara Pas Britt Huybrechts Annick Ponthier Wouter Vermeersch
Vooruit [10] Jinnih Beels Joris Vandenbroucke Frank Vandenbroucke Funda Oru Melissa Depraetere Together with PS
Volt[11] Jasper Coosemans Emeric Massaut
VoorU[12] Frank Wouters Michael Verstraeten Els Ampe Dirk Vijnck Ivan Sabbe Rachid El Hajui

French-speaking constituencies

Hainaut will interestingly feature three party chairmen (Bouchez for MR, Magnette for PS and Nollet for Ecolo) as well as popular ex-MR ex-minister Crucke for Les Engagés. In Namur, three federal deputy prime ministers will run against each other (Dermagne for PS, Gilkinet for Ecolo and Clarinval for MR).[13]

Party  Hainaut  Liège  Luxembourg  Namur  Walloon Brabant  Brussels
DéFI Mikhaël Jacquemain Freddy Debarsy Julien Lemoine Pierre Pinte François De Smet
Ecolo Jean-Marc Nollet Sarah Schlitz Olivier Vajda Georges Gilkinet Simon Moutquin Zakia Khattabi
Les Engagés Jean-Luc Crucke Vanessa Matz Benoît Lutgen Maxime Prévot Yves Coppieters Elisabeth Degryse
MR Georges-Louis Bouchez Pierre-Yves Jeholet Benoît Piedboeuf David Clarinval Florence Reuter Sophie Wilmès
PS Paul Magnette Frédéric Daerden Philippe Courard Pierre-Yves Dermagne Dimitri Legasse Caroline Désir
PTB Sofie Merckx Raoul Hedebouw Farah Jacquet Amaury Laridon Nabil Boukili
N-VA[14] Michel De Wolf Evelien Barbeaux Anne Laure Mouligneaux Laurence Genot Drieu Godefridi
Chez Nous Jérôme Munier Noa Pozzi Nicolas Dielman Eric Doucet Michaël Lefèvere

Other political parties
  • Blanco Party: single-issue politics - Federal constituencies
  • Belgische Unie – Union Belge: royalism - Federal constituencies
  • L'Unie: unitarism - Federal constituencies
  • Alternatief 2024 - Flemish constituencies
  • BoerBurgerBelangen: agrarianism - Flemish constituencies
  • Partij vor de Bomen: tree interests - Flemish constituencies
  • DierAnimal: animal welfare - Flemish constituencies
  • Common Sense: libertarianism, agrarianism - Flemish constituencies
  • L99 - Flemish constituencies
  • Citizen Empowerment: anti-establishment - Walloon constituencies
  • Team Fouad Ahidar: minority interests - Brussels constituencies
  • Plan B: regionalism, liberalism - Brussels constituencies
  • Transparene-Transparency: anti-establishment - Brussels constituencies
  • Viva Palestina: pro-Palestine - Brussels constituencies
  • Agora: participatory democracy - French-speaking constituencies
  • Citizens' Collective: social-liberalism - French-speaking constituencies
  • Workers' Struggle: trotskyism - French-speaking constituencies
  • Anticapitalists: trotskyism - French-speaking European constituencies
  • Huppertz+Co: christian democracy - German-speaking constituencies
  • Liste24.dg - German-speaking constituencies

Retiring incumbents

The following members of the federal parliament are not standing for election in June 2024.

  • Patrick Dewael (Open Vld)[15]
  • Valerie Van Peel (N-VA)[15]
  • Maggie De Block (Open Vld) [15]
  • Barbara Creemers (Groen)
  • Wouter De Vriendt (Groen)
  • Kristof Calvo (Groen), though he later announced he will support the Ecolo list in Hainaut, without aiming to be elected[16]
  • Steven Creyelman (Vlaams Belang)
  • Meryame Kitir (Vooruit)
  • Jessika Soors (Groen)

Opinion polls

Flanders

Wallonia

Brussels

References
  1. "Quand auront lieu les prochaines elections". IBZ Elections. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  2. Belga (17 May 2023). "Kogel is door de kerk: op zondag 9 juni 2024 trekken we naar de stembus". vrtnws.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  3. "Brussel krijgt extra volksvertegenwoordiger bij verkiezingen 2024". BRUZZ. 23 November 2022.
  4. "Definitieve afsluiting van de kandidatenlijsten". Ministry of the Interior (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  5. "Definitieve afsluiting van de kandidatenlijsten". Ministry of the Interior (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  6. "Definitieve afsluiting van de kandidatenlijsten". Ministry of the Interior (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  7. "Definitieve afsluiting van de kandidatenlijsten". Ministry of the Interior (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  8. "Definitieve afsluiting van de kandidatenlijsten". Ministry of the Interior (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  9. "Definitieve afsluiting van de kandidatenlijsten". Ministry of the Interior (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  10. "Definitieve afsluiting van de kandidatenlijsten". Ministry of the Interior (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  11. "Candidates 2024". Volt België. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  12. "Definitieve afsluiting van de kandidatenlijsten". Ministry of the Interior (in Dutch). Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  13. "Ces combats qui vont animer les élections du 9 juin". L'Echo. 13 January 2024.
  14. "EXCLUSIEF. N-VA wil in Wallonië opkomen". Het Laatste Nieuws. 2023-12-02. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
  15. "Deze politici kondigden al aan dat ze niet terugkeren in het Parlement". De Standaard. 21 April 2023.
  16. "Kristof Calvo (Groen) wordt lijstduwer van zusterpartij Ecolo in Henegouwen: "Ik ambieer geen zetel"". VRT NWS. 22 January 2024.
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