Belgian Socialist Party
The Belgian Socialist Party (French: Parti Socialiste belge, PSB; Dutch: Belgische Socialistische Partij, 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.[1]
President | Achille Van Acker (first) André Cools (last) |
---|---|
Founder | Paul-Henri Spaak |
Founded | 1945 |
Dissolved | 1978 |
Preceded by | Belgian Labour Party |
Succeeded by | Socialist Party (Flemish) Socialist Party (Francophone) |
Headquarters | Brussels, Belgium |
Trade union wing | General Federation of Belgian Labour |
Ideology | Social democracy Democratic socialism |
Political position | Centre-left |
European affiliation | Confederation of the Socialist Parties |
International affiliation | Socialist International |
Colours | Red |
|
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.[2]
As linguistic and community issues became more divisive, the Belgian Socialist Party split into two new entities: the Socialistische Partij Anders (sp.a.) for the Flemish community and the Parti Socialiste (PS) for the Francophone community.
Presidents
Presidents BSP/PSB[3] | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Period | President | ||||||||
1942–1945 | Achille Van Acker | ||||||||
1945–1959 | Max Buset | ||||||||
1959–1971 | Leo Collard | ||||||||
Co-Presidents (from 1971)[4] | |||||||||
Period | Dutch speaking co-President | French speaking co-President | |||||||
1971–1973 | Jos Van Eynde | Edmond Leburton | |||||||
1973–1975 | Jos Van Eynde | André Cools | |||||||
1975–1977 | Willy Claes | André Cools | |||||||
1977–1978 | Karel Van Miert | André Cools |
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
- Socialist Party - Different (Flemish: Socialistische Partij - Anders), the Flemish social democratic party in Belgium. It was formerly known as SP, now as SP.a
References
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-10-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Cook, Chris; Francis, Mary (1979). The first European elections: A handbook and guide. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 0-333-26575-0.
- "sp.a partijvoorzitters". Tijdslijn.s-p-a.be. Archived from the original on 2009-10-09. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
- Archived October 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine