1933 Southern Rhodesian general election

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.

Electoral system

No changes were made in the franchise or the procedure of elections since the previous election, the Electoral Act, 1928 being unamended.

Electoral districts

Shortly before the election, a last-minute decision was made to revise the boundaries of electoral districts which were exceptionally large or exceptionally small. The Shamva district, to the north-east of Salisbury, was found to be too small and was abolished and merged with most of the Mazoe district; the remaining parts of both were added to Lomagundi district. In Salisbury itself, the two-member Salisbury South district was reduced to one member, and a new two-member Salisbury Central created, with knock-on effects to Salisbury North.

Outside of these changes the boundaries were the same as used in 1928.

Political parties

The Progressive Party, which had won four seats to become the official opposition in 1928, merged with the County Party and reorganised itself as the Reform Party in October 1929.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Reform Party	10,549	39.38	16	+12
	Rhodesia Party	10,512	39.24	9	–
	Rhodesia Labour Party	4,305	16.07	5	+2
	Independents	1,424	5.32	0	–1
Total		26,790	100.00	30	0
Registered voters/turnout		28,515	–
Source: Willson

By constituency

• Ind – Independent
• Lab – Rhodesia Labour Party
• Ref – Reform Party
• RP – Rhodesia Party

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
BULAWAYO CENTRAL Two members 2,114 (68.1%)	Donald MacIntyre	Lab	681
	† James Cowden	RP	616
	† Harry Bertin	RP	597
	Edward Jonathan Davies	Lab	467
	William Ewart Kay	Ref	271
	Henry Darling	Ref	249
BULAWAYO NORTH Two members 2,092 (70.0%)	John Banks Brady	RP	681
	† Allan Ross Welsh	RP	761
	Patrick Bissett Fletcher	Ref	551
	William McDonald	Lab	322
	Francis Leslie Hadfield	Ref	303
	George Arthur Pingstone	Ind	148
BULAWAYO SOUTH 1,279 (67.6%)	† Harry Herbert Davies	Lab	587
	Henry Arthur Cloete	RP	278
CHARTER 685 (78.0%)	† Ernest Lucas Guest	RP	426
	Servaas Daniel Le Roux	Ref	108
EASTERN 951 (73.2%)	† John Louis Martin	RP	347
	Ernest Plewman De Kock	Ref	147
	William Hendrik Boshoff	Ind	125
	Johannes Arnoldus Christiaan Kruger	Ind	77
GATOOMA 878 (81.0%)	William Sydney Senior	Ref	318
	Thomas Alfred Kimble	Lab	261
	† George Munro	RP	132
GWANDA 708 (75.1%)	Sir Hugh Grenville Williams	Ref	292
	† George Mitchell	RP	240
GWELO 1,070 (75.7%)	Frank Delano Thompson	Ref	345
	† Howard Unwin Moffat	RP	279
	William Harrison	Lab	186
HARTLEY 634 (80.1%)	† Roger Edward Downes	Ref	281
	Robert Atherton Comyn	RP	121
	William Ernest Heydeman	Ind	106
INSIZA 729 (70.0%)	† Stephen Martin Lanigan O'Keeffe	Ref	307
	John Parke Richardson	RP	170
	Leo George Robinson	Ind	33
INYATI 782 (72.1%)	† Charles Spearman Jobling	Ref	329
	Benjamin Walter Durham	RP	235
LOMAGUNDI 854 (71.6%)	Lewis Aloys MacDonald Hastings	RP	365
	Thomas William Williamson	Ref	246
MARANDELLAS 834 (70.6%)	Reginald Herbert Bruce Dickson	Ref	329
	† Luke Lot Green	RP	260
MATOPO 998 (80.5%)	† Robert Alexander Fletcher	Ref	299
	Ernest Arthur Maxwell	Lab	296
	Roland Mortimer Daniel	RP	208
MAZOE 893 (74.5%)	† Edward Walter Lionel Noaks	RP	346
	† Mark Douglas Claxton	Ind	319
QUE QUE 819 (74.5%)	Charles Walter Leppington	Ref	308
	† James Murdoch Eaton	RP	189
	Stanley James Edwards	Ind	113
RAYLTON 1,271 (77.7%)	† Lawrence John Walter Keller	Lab	519
	Henry Robert Barbour	RP	370
	Carl Hoghoj Olsen	Ref	80
	William Davies	Ind	18
SALISBURY CENTRAL Two members 2,294 (67.7%)	† Jacob Hendrik Smit	Ref	1,125
	Neil Housman Wilson	Ref	835
	Charles Olley	Ind	485
	Milton Evan Cleveland	RP	343
	Mrs. Gladys Maasdorp	RP	316
SALISBURY DISTRICT 1,028 (74.1%)	Thomas Nangle	Ref	391
	† William Muter Leggate	RP	371
SALISBURY NORTH Two members 1,978 (73.1%)	† Godfrey Martin Huggins	Ref	993
	† Percival Donald Leslie Fynn	RP	747
	Edgar Pope Vernall	Ref	642
	William Smith	RP	508
SALISBURY SOUTH 1,267 (79.6%)	George Henry Walker	Lab	458
	William Harold Kimpton	Ref	314
	Hyam Schwartz	RP	237
SELUKWE 851 (78.4%)	† Robert Dunipace Gilchrist	Ref	507
	Mrs. Ethel Tawse Jollie	RP	160
UMTALI NORTH 911 (77.1%)	Donald Murray Somerville	Ref	371
	† Charles Eickhoff	RP	263
	William Anderson Logan	Lab	68
UMTALI SOUTH 843 (75.2%)	† Jonathan Hunter Malcolm	Lab	370
	Norman Innes	RP	264
VICTORIA 1,032 (72.4%)	William Alexander Eustace Winterton	Ref	475
	Ernest George Birch	RP	272
WANKIE 720 (65.1%)	† Alexander Robert Thomson	RP	246
	Frederic Philip Mennell	Ref	133
	William Doull	Lab	90

Changes during the assembly

There were no byelections during this Assembly. In August 1934, most of the Reform Party merged with the Rhodesia Party to form the United Party.

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)