Federal elections were held in the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation or CAF, was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southe ...

on 12 November 1958. The result was a victory for the ruling

United Federal Party The United Federal Party (UFP) was a political party in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. History The UFP was formed in November 1957 by a merger of the Federal Party, which had operated at the federal level, and the Southern Rhodesian ...

, with

Roy Welensky Sir Roland "Roy" Welensky, (''né'' Raphael Welensky; 20 January 1907 – 5 December 1991) was a Northern Rhodesian politician and the second and last Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Born in Salisbury, Southern Rh ...

remaining Prime Minister.Kenneth Janda (1980)
Political Parties: A Cross-National Survey
' New York: The Free Press, pp281–282

Electoral system

The Federal Parliament had 59 seats, of which four were elected by an African electoral college in the northern territories, two were nominated by governors in the northern territories, with one seat reserved for an elected European representing African interests. The remaining 52 were directly-elected using two electoral rolls; a general roll mainly consisting of Europeans and a special roll with a more representative population mix. The general roll included 83,506 Europeans and Coloureds, 2,876 Asians and 1,055 Africans, whilst the special roll included 137 Europeans, 25 coloureds, 23 Asians and 692 Africans. Thousands of eligible Africans did not register to vote. The general roll elected 44 seats, 24 in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

, 14 in

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-West ...

and six in

Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...

. Both the general and special roll voted for eight African seats, four from Southern Rhodesia and two each from Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland.Africa: The Federal Election 1958
ITN The single European seat elected to represent African interests was elected in Southern Rhodesia by members of both rolls.

Campaign

A total of 112 candidates contested 48 constituencies, with five seats in

having only one candidate, all of whom were elected unopposed. The main contest was between the United Federal Party led by Welensky and the

Dominion Party The Dominion Party was a political party in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, led by Winston Field. History The party was established in 1956 by a merger of several political groups and the remains of the Confederate Party, which had d ...

led by

Winston Field Winston Joseph Field (6 June 1904 – 17 March 1969) was a Rhodesian politician who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia. Field was a former Dominion Party MP who founded the Rhodesian Front political party with Ian Smith. ...

. The UFP contested all 53 seats (including the five unopposed constituencies); the DP ran in 43 constituencies, the Constitution Party led by A Scott ran in eight constituencies, and the

Confederate Party The Confederate Party was a political party in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. History The party was formed in 1953 as a successor to the Democratic Party by opponents of the Federation. In the 1953 federal elections the party contes ...

led by S Gurland contested a single seat in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

. The remaining twelve candidates were independents.

Results

References

{{Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland elections

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

Elections in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland Rhodesia and Nyasaland election Election and referendum articles with incomplete results