1954 Northern Rhodesian general election

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General elections were held in Northern Rhodesia on 19 February 1954. [1] The result was a victory for the Federal Party, which won 10 of the 12 elected European seats in the Legislative Council. [2]

Contents

Campaign

Although Geoffrey Beckett, leader of the elected members in the Legislative Council, had called for the elections to be fought on a non-party basis, the Federal Party voted to contest the elections at a congress held on 6 January. [1] Beckett was prevented from contesting the elections after his nomination papers were rejected by the returning officer after he failed to return his declaration form in time. [1] In Livingstone the local Federal Party selected Llewellyn Oxenham as its candidate, but the party headquarters refused to ratify his nomination, instead nominating Harry Thom, who it was widely thought would stand down if he was elected to allow Beckett to be stand in a by-election. [1] The Ndola branch's selection of its candidate being overruled by the party executive after it was claimed new members had been enrolled and votes had been solicited in the bar of the local railway club where the vote took place. [1]

The Confederate Party opted not to contest the elections, although some members were running as independents. [1]

Results

In mining towns Federal Party candidates defeated independents backed by the European Mineworkers Union and the European Salaried Staff Association. The only two seats in which they were defeated were the Midlands constituency near Lusaka (won by John Gaunt) and Livingstone, where Frank Derby won by 11 votes after the Federal Party vote was split between Oxenham and Thom. [3] [2] Both Derby and Gaunt were members of the Confederate Party. Voter turnout was between 70 and 80% in the mining areas, but lower in other constituencies, [2] and around 60% overall. [4]

PartyVotes%Seats
Federal Party 4,54954.2710
Independents3,83345.732
Total8,382100.0012
Valid votes8,38299.36
Invalid/blank votes540.64
Total votes8,436100.00
Registered voters/turnout14,63557.64
Source: Northern Rhodesia Election Office [5]

By constituency

ConstituencyCandidatePartyVotes%Notes
Broken Hill John Roberts Federal Party 61982.8Elected
William KirkwoodIndependent12917.2
Chingola William Gray Dunlop Federal Party 32556.9Elected
G D CraneIndependent24643.1
Fort Jameson Reuben Kidson Federal Party 17554.0Elected
W B McGeeIndependent14946.0
Livingstone Frank Derby Independent24834.8Elected
Harry Thom Federal Party 23733.3
Llewellyn OxenhamIndependent [lower-alpha 1] 22731.9
Luanshya Rodney Malcomson Federal Party 46344.7Elected
J F PurvisIndependent43041.5
A E HellerIndependent14313.8
Lusaka Ernest Sergeant Federal Party 61548.1Elected
Nan StaplesIndependent53141.5
Richard SampsonIndependent13210.3
Midland John Gaunt Independent22756.6Elected
Brian Goodwin Federal Party 17443.4
Mufulira Lewin Tucker Federal Party 48348.1Elected
Alexander Stevens Independent41641.4
A E BeechIndependent10610.5
Ndola Bill Rendall Federal Party 69070.4Elected
Margaret SmithIndependent29029.6
Nkana James Botha Federal Party 76857.9Elected
A B HunterIndependent55942.1
Northern Harold Watmore Federal Party UnopposedElected
South-Western William Harris Wroth Federal Party UnopposedElected
Source: Northern Rhodesia Election Office [5]
  1. Oxenham was an unofficial Federal Party candidate [4]

Aftermath

On 13 January four African members (Robinson Nabulyato from Southern Province, Safeli Chileshe from Central Province, Paskale Sokota from Western Province and Lakement Ngaundu from Northern Province) had been nominated for membership of the Assembly by the Northern Rhodesian African Representative Council from a field of 14 candidates. [6]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Mr. G. B. Beckett's Nomination Invalid" East Africa and Rhodesia, 28 January 1954, p678
  2. 1 2 3 "Federal Party Success In N. Rhodesia: Mining Area Victories", The Times, 19 February 1954, p7, Issue 52860
  3. "N. Rhodesian Voting Analysed Federal Party's Hold", The Times, 20 February 1954, p5, Issue 52861
  4. 1 2 "Federal Party Wins in N. Rhodesia", East Africa and Rhodesia, 25 February 1954, p797
  5. 1 2 Northern Rhodesia: Legislative Council elections – February 19th, 1954: Analysis of results, Northern Rhodesia Election Office
  6. "N. Rhodesian Changes: Unofficial Members' Responsibilities", The Times, 15 January 2011, p7, Issue 52830