Socialist Party (Belgium)

Socialist Party

French: *Parti socialiste*
Dutch: *Socialistische Partij*
German: *Sozialistische Partei*
Socialist Party French: Parti socialiste; Dutch: Socialistische Partij; German: Sozialistische Partei
Abbreviation	PS
President	Paul Magnette
Founded	1978; 46 years ago
Preceded by	Belgian Socialist Party
Headquarters	National Secretariat; Bd de l'Empereur/Keizerslaan 13, Brussels
Think tank	Institut Emile Vandervelde
Youth wing	Movement of Young Socialists
Membership (2021)	32,000
Ideology	Social democracy
Political position	Centre-left
Regional affiliation	Socialists, Greens and Democrats
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists
European Parliament group	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
International affiliation	Progressive Alliance; Socialist International
Flemish counterpart	Vooruit
Colours	Red
Chamber of Representatives; (French-speaking seats)	16 / 61
Senate; (French-speaking seats)	7 / 24
Walloon Parliament	19 / 75
Parliament of the French Community	28 / 94
Brussels Parliament; (French-speaking seats)	16 / 72
European Parliament; (French-speaking seats)	2 / 8
Benelux Parliament	3 / 21
Website
	www.ps.be
	Politics of Belgium; Political parties; Elections;

The Socialist Party^[3]^[4]^[5] (French: Parti socialiste, pronounced [paʁti sɔsjalist], PS) is a social democratic ^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10] French-speaking political party in Belgium. As of the 2024 elections, it is the fourth largest party in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives and the second largest Francophone party. The party is led by Paul Magnette. The party supplies the Minister-president of the French Community (Rudy Demotte), and the Brussels-Capital Region (Rudi Vervoort). In the German-speaking community, the party is known as the Sozialistische Partei (SP).

The PS is very commonly part of governing coalitions, and dominates most local authorities because of the extremely fragmented nature of Belgian political institutions, particularly in Francophone areas. In the years since 1999, the PS has simultaneously controlled five regional executive bodies: the Government of the French Community, the Walloon Government, the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the COCOF, a local subsidiary in Brussels of the French Community Government, and the Government of the German-speaking Community.

The party, or its members, have from time to time been brought into connection with criminal activities and political scandals, mostly concerning bribery and financial fraud (Cools assassination, Agusta scandal, Dassault Affair, Carolorégienne affair, ICDI affair). The Carolorégienne affair caused Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe to step down as Minister-President of the Walloon region.

Electoral results

The PS performed well in the 2003 general election but were overtaken as the largest Francophone party by the Reformist Movement in the 2007 general election.

In the 10 June 2007 general elections, the party won 20 out of 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 4 out of 40 seats in the Senate. The PS was a member of the Leterme I Government, Van Rompuy I Government, Leterme II Government and currently the Di Rupo I Government of 6 December 2011, with former PS leader Elio Di Rupo serving as Prime Minister of Belgium.

Timeline

Results for the Chamber of Representatives, in percentages for the Kingdom of Belgium.

Ideology

The PS is a centre-left party.^[11] Its ideology and image are a mix of social democracy and modern electoral marketing. In its political program, the party identifies as progressive and eco-socialist.^[12]

Notable figures

The Brussels headquarters of the PS (2006)

Chairmen

André Cools, 1978–1981 (previously leader of the Walloon branch of the BSP/PSB)
Guy Spitaels, 1981–1992
Philippe Busquin, 1992–1999
Elio Di Rupo, 1999–2011
Thierry Giet, 2011–2013 (ad interim)
Paul Magnette, 2013–2014 (ad interim)
Elio Di Rupo, 2014–2019
Paul Magnette, 2019–

Other

Election results

Chamber of Representatives

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	Government
1978	689,876	12.5	31 / 212		Coalition
1981	733,137	12.2	35 / 212	4	Opposition
1985	834,488	13.8	35 / 212	0	Opposition
1987	961,361	15.6	40 / 212	5	Coalition
1991	831,199	13.5	35 / 212	5	Coalition
1995	720,819	11.9	21 / 150	14	Coalition
1999	631,653	10.2	19 / 150	2	Coalition
2003	855,992	13.0	25 / 150	6	Coalition
2007	724,787	10.9	20 / 150	5	Coalition
2010	894,543	13.7	26 / 150	6	Coalition
2014	787,165	11.7	23 / 150	3	Opposition
2019	641,623	9.5	20 / 150	3	External support (2020)
2019	641,623	9.5	20 / 150	3	Coalition (2020–)
2024	561,602	8.0	16 / 150	4	TBD

Senate

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/−
1978	685,307	12.5	17 / 106
1981	755,512	12.7	18 / 106	1
1985	832,792	13.9	18 / 106	0
1987	958,686	15.7	20 / 106	2
1991	814,136	13.3	18 / 106	2
1995	764,610	12.8	5 / 40	13
1999	597,890	9.7	4 / 40	1
2003	840,908	12.8	6 / 40	2
2007	678,812	10.2	4 / 40	2
2010	880,828	13.6	7 / 40	3

Regional

Brussels Parliament

Election	Votes	%		Seats	+/−	Government
Election	Votes	F.E.C.	Overall	Seats	+/−	Government
1989	96,189		22.0 (#1)	18 / 75		Coalition
1995	88,370		21.4 (#2)	17 / 75	1	Coalition
1999	68,307	18.6 (#3)	16.0 (#3)	13 / 75	4	Coalition
2004	130,462	33.4 (#1)	28.7 (#1)	26 / 89	13	Coalition
2009	107,303	26.2 (#2)	23.3 (#2)	21 / 89	5	Coalition
2014	108,755	26.6 (#1)	23.5 (#1)	21 / 89		Coalition
2019	85,530	22.0 (#1)	18.7 (#1)	17 / 89	4	Coalition
2024	85,929	22.1 (#2)		16 / 89	1	TBD

Walloon Parliament

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	Government
1995	665,986	35.2 (#1)	30 / 75		Coalition
1999	560,867	29.4 (#1)	25 / 75	5	Coalition
2004	727,781	36.9 (#1)	34 / 75	9	Coalition
2009	657,803	32.8 (#1)	29 / 75	5	Coalition
2014	626,473	30.9 (#1)	30 / 75	1	Coalition (2014–2017)
2014	626,473	30.9 (#1)	30 / 75	1	Opposition (2017–2019)
2019	532,422	26.2 (#1)	23 / 75	7	Coalition
2024	480,003	23.2 (#2)	19 / 75	4	Opposition

German-speaking Community Parliament

Election	Votes	%	Seats	+/−	Government
1990	6,407	16.3	4 / 25	0	Opposition
1995	5,958	16.1	4 / 25	0	Coalition
1999	5,519	15.0	4 / 25	0	Coalition
2004	6,903	19.0	5 / 25	1	Coalition
2009	7,231	19.3	5 / 25	0	Coalition
2014	6,047	16.1	4 / 25	1	Coalition
2019	5,820	14.8	4 / 25	0	Coalition
2024	5,473	13.7	3 / 25	1	Opposition

European Parliament

Election	List leader	Votes		%			Seats	+/−	EP Group
Election	List leader	F.E.C.	G.E.C.	F.E.C.	G.E.C.	Overall	Seats	+/−	EP Group
1979	Anne-Marie Lizin (F.E.C.)	575,824	—	27.43 (#1)	—	10.58	4 / 24	New	SOC
1984	Ernest Glinne (F.E.C.)	762,293	—	34.04 (#1)	—	13.32	5 / 24	1
1989	Ernest Glinne (F.E.C.)	854,207	—	38.13 (#1)	—	14.48	5 / 24	0
1994	José Happart (F.E.C.) Unclear (G.E.C.)	680,142	4,820	30.44 (#1)	12.57 (#5)	11.48	3 / 25	2	PES
1999	Philippe Busquin (F.E.C.) Charles Servaty (G.E.C.)	596,567	4,215	25.78 (#2)	11.42 (#4)	9.59	3 / 25	0
2004	Elio Di Rupo (F.E.C.) Werner Baumgarten (G.E.C.)	878,577	5,527	36.09 (#1)	14.94 (#3)	13.54	4 / 24	1
2009	Jean-Claude Marcourt (F.E.C.) Resi Stoffels (G.E.C.)	714,947	5,658	29.10 (#1)	14.63 (#4)	10.88	3 / 22	1	S&D
2014	Marie Arena (F.E.C.) Antonios Antoniadis (G.E.C.)	714,645	5,835	29.29 (#1)	15.12 (#4)	10.68	3 / 21	0
2019	Paul Magnette (F.E.C.) Matthias Zimmermann (G.E.C.)	651,157	4,655	26.69 (#1)	11.42 (#4)	9.74	2 / 21	1
2024	Elio Di Rupo (F.E.C.) Charles Servaty (G.E.C.)	529,697	5,131	20.52 (#1)	11.82 (#5)	7.50	2 / 22	0

References

^ "L'IEV - PS - Parti Socialiste". PS.be. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
^ "À moins d'un an des élections, comment les partis politiques recrutent-ils leurs membres ? Et combien sont-ils ?". 20 September 2023.
^ Chee, Foo Yun (23 September 2020). "Belgian king names two to form government - 16 months after election". Reuters. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
^ Anderson, Emma (20 July 2020). "Belgian Socialist leader warns of new election if coalition not formed in 50 days". Politico. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
^ Walsh, David (2 October 2020). "Belgium: New seven-party coalition government officially sworn in". Euronews. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Wallonia/Belgium". Parties and Elections in Europe.
^ Slomp, Hans (30 September 2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. pp. 465–. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
^ Dimitri Almeida (27 April 2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. CRC Press. pp. 71–. ISBN 978-1-136-34039-0. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
^ Richard Collin; Pamela L. Martin (2012). An Introduction to World Politics: Conflict and Consensus on a Small Planet. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 218–. ISBN 978-1-4422-1803-1. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
^ Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko; Matti Mälkiä (2007). Encyclopedia of Digital Government. Idea Group Inc (IGI). pp. 397–. ISBN 978-1-59140-790-4. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
^ Josep M. Colomer (24 July 2008). Comparative European Politics. Taylor & Francis. pp. 220–. ISBN 9780203946091. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
^ "170 engagements pour un futur idéal" [170 commitments for an ideal future] (PDF) (in French). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2022.

External links

[iev-1] "L'IEV - PS - Parti Socialiste". PS.be. Retrieved 11 September 2014.

[2] "À moins d'un an des élections, comment les partis politiques recrutent-ils leurs membres ? Et combien sont-ils ?". 20 September 2023.

[3] Chee, Foo Yun (23 September 2020). "Belgian king names two to form government - 16 months after election". Reuters. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

[4] Anderson, Emma (20 July 2020). "Belgian Socialist leader warns of new election if coalition not formed in 50 days". Politico. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

[5] Walsh, David (2 October 2020). "Belgium: New seven-party coalition government officially sworn in". Euronews. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

[Nordsieck-6] Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Wallonia/Belgium". Parties and Elections in Europe.

[Slomp2011-7] Slomp, Hans (30 September 2011). Europe, A Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. pp. 465–. ISBN 978-0-313-39182-8. Retrieved 23 August 2012.

[Almeida-8] Dimitri Almeida (27 April 2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. CRC Press. pp. 71–. ISBN 978-1-136-34039-0. Retrieved 14 July 2013.

[CollinMartin2012-9] Richard Collin; Pamela L. Martin (2012). An Introduction to World Politics: Conflict and Consensus on a Small Planet. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 218–. ISBN 978-1-4422-1803-1. Retrieved 18 July 2013.

[AnttiroikoMälkiä2007-10] Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko; Matti Mälkiä (2007). Encyclopedia of Digital Government. Idea Group Inc (IGI). pp. 397–. ISBN 978-1-59140-790-4. Retrieved 18 July 2013.

[Colomer2008-11] Josep M. Colomer (24 July 2008). Comparative European Politics. Taylor & Francis. pp. 220–. ISBN 9780203946091. Retrieved 13 July 2013.

[ps.be-12] "170 engagements pour un futur idéal" [170 commitments for an ideal future] (PDF) (in French). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 February 2022.

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