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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 March 17, 1902 was the second election to the Legislative Council of Southern Rhodesia. No change was made in the administration of the elections compared with the first elections three years previously, so the Legislative Council continued to comprise 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 from two electoral districts. 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 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.
The Southern Rhodesia sweepstakes referendum of February 1934 saw the voters of Southern Rhodesia vote to permit the running of sweepstakes gambling "under strict legislative control", managed by the government of the colony.
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 Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council was the inaugural governing body for the British South Africa Company (BSAC) territory of Southern Rhodesia before its replacement by the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly in 1923, when the country achieved responsible government, and duly became a self-governing colony within the British Empire.
John Wallace Downie served as High Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia from 1930 to 1935.
Harry Herbert Davies was a Southern Rhodesian Labour politician and Leader of the Opposition in the territory's Legislative Assembly from 1929 to 1944. Originally from Wales, he moved to Southern Rhodesia in 1920 and became an estate agent in Bulawayo. He ran for the Southern Rhodesian Labour Party in Bulawayo District in the 1924 general election, but was not elected. After standing successfully in Bulawayo South in the 1928 election, he sat in the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly for 20 years. In 1929 he was elected leader of the Southern Rhodesian Labour Party, thereby becoming Leader of the Opposition, a post he held until 1944.
The Reform Party was a political party that was formed in Southern Rhodesia in 1932, which went on to form the government under Godfrey Huggins in 1933, before splitting in 1934 and disappearing by the end of the decade. The party had support from disenchanted Rhodesian settlers including "railway men, civil servants, artisans without a job and farmers in economic distress." Its initial program proposed the creation of a central bank to regulate the colony's currency and credit and other measures to provide economic support for white workers and farmers facing competition from low paid African workers and manufacturers facing competition from cheaper South African imports.
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
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