confronting the issue of Leopold's return despite calls from Communists, some Socialists and trade unionists for the King's abdication in April and May 1945. Soon after the King's liberation, Van Acker and a government delegation headed to Strobl, Austria to negotiate with Leopold. At a series of meetings between 9 and 11 May 1945, Van Acker insisted that the King publicly announce his support for the Allied cause and his commitment to parliamentary democracy. No agreement was reached. In the meantime, Leopold took up residence in Pregny (near Geneva) in Switzerland under the pretext that heart palpitations made further negotiations or thoughts of return to political life impossible. In Belgium, political debate about the royal question continued and grew after the war, and remained a polemical topic in the popular press, notably in the Francophone newspaper Le Soir. In the general election of 1949, the PSC–CVP campaigned on a pro-Leopold royalist platform. The results reshaped the political landscape; the Communists were routed and the PSB–BSP lost seats to both the Liberals and Catholics. The Catholics gained a new majority in the Senate and a plurality in the Chamber of Representatives, their best results since the war. Gaston Eyskens took over as Prime Minister at the head of a Liberal-Catholic coalition. Both parties in the government (and Leopold himself) supported a referendum on the King's return, which became the focus of political attention. Culmination of the crisis, 1950 Referendum of March 1950 The Eyskens government agreed to a national referendum, known as the "popular consultation" (consultation populaire or volksraadpleging), which was scheduled for 12 March 1950. It was the first ever referendum in Belgian history and was intended to be advisory. Campaigning was vigorous on both sides, with little disruption to the polls, despite the contentious nature of the subject. Result of the referendum was that Leopold's return won a 58 percent majority in the national vote, with majorities in seven of the nine provinces. However, the vote was heavily divided by region. In Flanders, 72 percent voted in favour of Leopold's return, but in the arrondissement of Brussels, the Leopoldists won only a minority of 48 percent. In Wallonia a mere 42 percent voted for the restitution of the King. The final results, in percentages by province, were: The result confirmed the worries of some, including Spaak, that the vote would not be sufficiently decisive in either direction and could