2003 Belgian federal election#Senate

{{Infobox legislative election

| country = Belgium

| previous_election = 1999

| next_election = 2007

| election_date = {{Start date|2003|05|18|df=yes}}

| module = {{Infobox legislative election

| embed = yes

| election_name = Chamber of Representatives

| seats_for_election = All 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives

| majority_seats = 76

| turnout = 91.63%

| leader1 = Guy Verhofstadt

| party1 = VLD

| last_election1 = 23

| seats1 = 25

| percentage1 = 15.36

| leader2 = Johan Vande Lanotte

| party2 = sp.a–spirit

| last_election2 = 14

| seats2 = 23

| percentage2 = 14.91

| leader3 = Stefaan De Clerck

| party3 = Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams

| last_election3 = 22

| seats3 = 21

| percentage3 = 13.25

| leader4 = Elio Di Rupo

| party4 = Parti Socialiste (Belgium)

| last_election4 = 19

| seats4 = 25

| percentage4 = 13.02

| leader5 = Frank Vanhecke

| party5 = Vlaams Blok

| last_election5 = 15

| seats5 = 18

| percentage5 = 11.68

| leader6 = Antoine Duquesne

| party6 = Mouvement Réformateur

| last_election6 = 18

| seats6 = 24

| percentage6 = 11.40

| leader7 = Joëlle Milquet

| party7 = Centre démocrate humaniste

| last_election7 = 10

| seats7 = 8

| percentage7 = 5.47

| party8 = New Flemish Alliance

| leader8 = Geert Bourgeois

| last_election8 = New

| seats8 = 1

| percentage8 = 3.06

| party9 = Ecolo

| leader9 = {{ill|Philippe Defeyt|nl}}
{{ill|Évelyne Huytebroeck|nl}}
{{ill|Marc Hordies|nl}}

| last_election9 = 11

| seats9 = 4

| percentage9 = 3.06

| party10 = FN

| leader10 = Daniel Féret

| last_election10 = 1

| seats10 = 1

| percentage10 = 1.98

| module = {{Infobox legislative election

| embed = yes

| election_name = Senate

| seats_for_election = 40 of 71 seats in the Senate

| noleader = yes

| party1 = sp.a–spirit

| last_election1 = 4

| seats1 = 7

| percentage1 = 15.47

| party2 = VLD

| last_election2 = 6

| seats2 = 7

| percentage2 = 15.38

| party3 = Parti Socialiste (Belgium)

| last_election3 = 4

| seats3 = 6

| percentage3 = 12.84

| party4 = Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams

| last_election4 = 6

| seats4 = 6

| percentage4 = 12.71

| party5 = Mouvement Réformateur

| last_election5 = 5

| seats5 = 5

| percentage5 = 12.15

| party6 = Vlaams Blok

| last_election6 = 4

| seats6 = 5

| percentage6 = 11.32

| party7 = Centre démocrate humaniste

| last_election7 = 3

| seats7 = 2

| percentage7 = 5.54

| party8 = Ecolo

| last_election8 = 3

| seats8 = 1

| percentage8 = 3.19

| party9 = FN

| last_election9 = 0

| seats9 = 1

| percentage9 = 2.25

| map = {{switcher|300px|Chamber of Representatives results by electoral district|300px|Senate direct election results by province}}

| title = Federal Government

| posttitle = Federal Government after election

| before_election = Verhofstadt I Government

| after_election = Verhofstadt II Government

}}}}}}{{Politics of Belgium}}

Federal elections were held in Belgium on 18 May 2003, the first under a new electoral code. One of the novelties was an electoral threshold of 5, which has cost many seats to the N-VA and the Green parties, Ecolo and Agalev. The Belgian Socialists recovered well; the liberal and nationalist parties increased their vote as well.

The Flemish Greens lost all their seats. The Greens were attacked on two fronts: some,{{who|date=November 2024}} including their coalition partners, accused them of being too fundamentalist, while others{{who|date=November 2024}} said that they had betrayed their ideals. The resignation of a Walloon green minister (Isabelle Durant), one week before the elections, probably didn't do them much good either.{{cn|date=November 2024}} Although it was predicted in some opinion polls, the gains of the Front National were surprising, considering that it seldom appeared in the media.{{cn|date=November 2024}} The most important trend was the recovery of the Flemish social-democrats, led by the popular (some would say populist) Steve Stevaert. The fact that Elio Di Rupo was learning Dutch caused rumours that he hoped to become prime minister,{{cn|date=November 2024}} if the social-democrats would turn out to be the largest political family.

Themes that probably influenced the election results in some way{{cn|date=November 2024}} were the government's opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the controversy around the nuisance around the airport of Zaventem, the controversy surrounding the banning of tobacco publicity, and unemployment, but a general dominating theme was lacking.

Results

=Chamber of Representatives=

{{Election results

|image=File:Belgique2003.svg

|party13={{ill|Christian Democrats Federal|fr|Chrétiens démocrates fédéraux|lt=Chrétiens démocrates francophones}}|votes13=38346|sw13=New|seats13=0|sc13=New|color13=#003399

|party20={{ill|Socialist Movement (Belgium)|fr|Mouvement socialiste (Belgique)|lt=Socialist Movement}}|votes20=8116|sw20=New|seats20=0|sc20=New|color20=#AF0202

|party24={{abbr|France|Français réunis dans une action nationale de coopération et d’émancipation}}|votes24=5668|sw24=–0.03|seats24=0|sc24=0|color24=#dddddd

|party28=Communist Party–{{abbr|RDS|Résistance, démocratie, socialisme}}|votes28=2522|sw28=New|seats28=0|sc28=New

|party30={{abbr|RDS|Résistance, démocratie, socialisme}}–Communist Party|votes30=2084|sw30=New|seats30=0|sc30=New

|party34={{ill|Vrijheid, Intimiteit, Thuis, Arbeid en Liefde|nl}}|votes34=1325|sw34=New|seats34=0|sc34=New|color34=#dddddd

|invalid=364412

|total_sc=0

|electorate=7570637

|source=[https://polling2003.belgium.be/electionshome/uk/result/chamber/table_top.html IBZ]

}}

=Senate=

{{Election results

|image=File:Sénat2003.svg

|party13={{ill|Christian Democrats Federal|fr|Chrétiens démocrates fédéraux|lt=Chrétiens démocrates francophones}}|votes13=38339|sw13=New|seats13=0|sc13=New|color13=#003399

|party20={{ill|Social Liberal Democrats|nl|SoLiDe (België)}}|votes20=6651|sw20=–0.02|seats20=0|sc20=0|color20=#6200AD

|invalid=383093