Luxembourg general election, 1945

General elections were held in Luxembourg on 21 October 1945.^[1] They were the first elections held after the German occupation during World War II. As a result of the war, the political alliances of the interwar period had been ended. In their place were new parties; the Christian Social People's Party, the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party, and the Patriotic and Democratic Group in place of the Party of the Right, Socialist Party, and Radical Liberal Party respectively. It is regarded as a realigning election, as the election established the party political order, with four established parties, that would be maintained until 1974.

The conservatives remained the dominant faction, and the Christian Social People's Party's leader, Pierre Dupong, was invited to head another government. The election was also a success for both liberal and communist candidates, with both the Patriotic and Democratic Group and the Communist Party gaining four more seats than in the last election before the war.^[2] To restore political stability, Grand Duchess Charlotte asked Dupong to create a more broad-based coalition than the preceding Liberation Government. The resulting National Union Government would embrace all four political parties, and also include the solitary independent, guaranteeing the support of the whole Chamber of Deputies. The government remained in place until 1947.

Results

Party	Votes	%^[a]	Seats
Christian Social People's Party	907,601	44.7	25
Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party	569,025	23.4	11
Patriotic and Democratic Group	366,860	18.0	9
Communist Party of Luxembourg	295,701	11.1	5
Party of Independents of the East	13,977	1.6	1
Liberal Party	36,321	1.2	0
Other parties	2,015	0.1	0
Invalid/blank votes	5,487	–	–
Total	159,083	100	51
Registered voters/turnout			–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

^a The percentage of votes is not related to the number of votes in the table, as voters could cast more votes in some constituencies than others, and is instead calculated based on the proportion of votes received in each constituency.^[3]

Popular Vote
Christian Social People's Party			44.7%
Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party			23.4%
Patriotic and Democratic Group			18.0%
Communist Party of Luxembourg			11.1%
Party of Independents of the East			1.6%
Liberal Party			1.2%

Footnotes

1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1244 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Although the Patriotic and Democratic Group was a new party, they won four more than their ideological predecessors, the Radical Liberals, had in 1937.
3. Nohlen & Stöver, p1254