General elections were held in Luxembourg on 14 June 1854, electing members of the Chamber of Deputies from all the cantons of Luxembourg.[1][2]
Background
The elections were held in the entire country. Partial general elections had already been due to happen in 1854; under the electoral system at the time, Deputies were elected to six-year terms, with elections held every three years, renewing half the Chamber's membership at a time. The last partial general election was in 1851.
On 15 May 1854 however, the Simons government prematurely dissolved the Chamber, and organised elections to renew its entire membership for 14 June. This dissolution was due to conflict between the executive and the legislature.[3]
In Luxembourg canton, the entire list of candidates supported by the democratic-liberal anti-Simons Courrier du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg was elected with a large majority; in Mersch, 3 of the 4 successful candidates were on the Courrier's list.[2]
Notwithstanding the results in these two cantons, the elections were generally seen as a win for the pro-Simons government, reactionary side, over those supporting the 1848 Constitution and democratic rights; the Courrier stated "in several cantons, the reactionary candidates prevailed over the constitutional candidates and the old majority is seriously affected."[4] The Chamber could now be expected to support the government.[2]