Related Research Articles
General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 14 December 1962. Voters elected 65 members of the Legislative Assembly. The election was notable for bringing to power the Rhodesian Front, initially under Winston Field, which set the colony on the course for its eventual Unilateral Declaration of Independence.
Legislative Council elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 17 April 1899. They were the first elections to take place in the colony and followed the Southern Rhodesia Order in Council of 1898 which granted the colony a Legislative Council consisting of at least ten voting members: the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia ex officio, five members nominated by the British South Africa Company, and four members elected by registered voters. The Resident Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia, Sir Marshal James Clarke, also sat on the Legislative Council ex officio but without the right to vote.
The Southern Rhodesia Legislative Council election of 1905 was the third election to the Legislative Council of Southern Rhodesia. The Legislative Council had, since 1903, comprised fifteen voting members: the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia ex officio, seven members nominated by the British South Africa Company, and seven members elected by registered voters from four electoral districts. The Resident Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia, Richard Chester-Master, also sat on the Legislative Council ex officio but without the right to vote.
The Southern Rhodesia Legislative Council election of April 24, 1908 was the fourth election to the Legislative Council of Southern Rhodesia. The Legislative Council had, since 1903, comprised seven members elected by registered voters from four electoral districts; in 1907 the number of members nominated by the British South Africa Company was reduced from seven to five. The Administrator of Southern Rhodesia sat on the Legislative Council ex officio. The Resident Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia, James George Fair, also sat on the Legislative Council ex officio but without the right to vote.
The Southern Rhodesia Legislative Council election of 12 April 1911 was the fifth election to the Legislative Council of Southern Rhodesia. The Legislative Council had, since 1907, comprised thirteen voting members: the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia ex officio, five members nominated by the British South Africa Company, and seven members elected by registered voters from four electoral districts. The Resident Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia, Robert Burns-Begg also sat on the Legislative Council ex officio but without the right to vote.
The Southern Rhodesia Legislative Council election of 18 March 1914 was the sixth election to the Legislative Council of Southern Rhodesia. The Legislative Council had resolved in 1913 that it should have twelve elected members, together with six members nominated by the British South Africa Company, and the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia. The Resident Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia also sat on the Legislative Council ex officio but without the right to vote. This office was first held by Robert Burns-Begg, from 1 April 1915 by Herbert James Stanley, and from 1 April 1918 by Crawford Douglas Douglas-Jones.
Legislative Council elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 30 April 1920, the seventh elections to the Legislative Council.
The British South Africa Company appointed a variety of officials to govern Southern Rhodesia between 1890 and 1923. The most prominent of these were the Administrator and the Chief Magistrate, the first of which was in effect the head of government during this time. As such, he held a seat on the Legislative Council of Southern Rhodesia ex officio.
General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 29 April 1924, the first elections to the new Legislative Assembly following the granting of responsible government to the colony. The result was a comprehensive victory for the Rhodesia Party, which had been formed by the supporters of responsible government, who won 26 out of the 30 seats.
General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 19 September 1928, the second elections to the Legislative Assembly. The Rhodesia Party, which had won an overwhelming victory in the previous elections in 1924, was re-elected with a slightly reduced majority.
General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 6 September 1933, the third elections since the colony of Southern Rhodesia was granted self-government. It is notable as one of only two general elections in Southern Rhodesia which led to a defeat for the sitting government, as the Reform Party won a narrow majority of two seats in the Legislative Assembly. Their victory was to be short-lived.
General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 7 November 1934, fourth elections since the colony of Southern Rhodesia was granted self-government. The elections were called only a year after the previous elections when the Prime Minister, Godfrey Huggins, formed the United Party as a merger of the conservative section of his Reform Party and the former governing Rhodesia Party. Huggins succeeded in winning a landslide, defeating all but one of his Reform Party opponents.
General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 14 April 1939, the fifth elections since the colony of Southern Rhodesia was granted internal self-government. Prime Minister Godfrey Huggins' United Party government were re-elected in a landslide. The elections were called slightly earlier than the deadline as Huggins feared the German invasion of Czechoslovakia would lead to European War.
General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 25 April 1946, seven years after the previous elections in 1939, the term of the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly having been extended so that there would be no general elections during World War II. The elections showed a strong shift to the right, as the United Party government led by Prime Minister Godfrey Huggins lost its overall majority; however, Huggins could count on the support of one of the factions of the Rhodesia Labour Party in any vote of confidence and therefore remained in office.
General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 15 September 1948. They saw Prime Minister Godfrey Huggins regain the overall majority he had lost in the previous elections in 1946. Huggins' United Party won a landslide, reducing the opposition Liberal Party to a small minority.
The Rt Hon. Sir Robert Clarkson Tredgold, KCMG, PC, was a Rhodesian barrister, judge and politician.
The Hon. Lionel Cripps, CMG, was the first Speaker of the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly.
The modern political history of Zimbabwe starts with the arrival of white people to what was dubbed Southern Rhodesia in the 1890s. The country was initially run by an administrator appointed by the British South Africa Company. The prime ministerial role was first created in October 1923, when the country achieved responsible government, with Sir Charles Coghlan as its first Premier. The third Premier, George Mitchell, renamed the post Prime Minister in 1933.
The British South Africa Company's administration of what became Rhodesia was chartered in 1889 by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, and began with the Pioneer Column's march north-east to Mashonaland in 1890. Empowered by its charter to acquire, govern and develop the area north of the Transvaal in southern Africa, the Company, headed by Cecil Rhodes, raised its own armed forces and carved out a huge bloc of territory through treaties, concessions and occasional military action, most prominently overcoming the Matabele army in the First and Second Matabele Wars of the 1890s. By the turn of the century, Rhodes's Company held a vast, land-locked country, bisected by the Zambezi river. It officially named this land Rhodesia in 1895, and ran it until the early 1920s.
References
- Source Book of Parliamentary Elections and Referenda in Southern Rhodesia 1898-1962 ed. by F.M.G. Willson (Department of Government, University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Salisbury 1963)
- Holders of Administrative and Ministerial Office 1894-1964 by F.M.G. Willson and G.C. Passmore, assisted by Margaret T. Mitchell (Source Book No. 3, Department of Government, University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Salisbury 1966)
- Official Year Book of the Colony of Southern Rhodesia, No. 1 - 1924, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia
| Presidential elections | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary elections | |
| Senate elections | |
| Local elections | |
| Referendums | |
