General elections were held in
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
, renamed the year before from
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 ...
, on 7 May 1965. The results was a victory for the ruling
Rhodesian Front
The Rhodesian Front was a right-wing conservative political party in Southern Rhodesia, subsequently known as Rhodesia. It was the last ruling party of Southern Rhodesia prior to that country's unilateral declaration of independence, and the rul ...
, which won 50 of the 65 seats in the
Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia
The Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia was the legislature of Southern Rhodesia and then Rhodesia from 1924 to 1970.
Background
In 1898, the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council, Southern Rhodesia's first elected representative body, was found ...
. Later in the year, the government made a
unilateral declaration of independence
A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) is a formal process leading to the establishment of a new state by a subnational entity which declares itself independent and sovereign without a formal agreement with the state which it is secedi ...
(UDI).
Electoral system
The election was held using two electoral rolls, an A roll, which was largely white (95,208 whites and 2,256 black Africans)
[7 May 1965 House of Assembly Election]
African Elections Database and a B roll, which was largely African. Although both rolls could vote for all 65 seats, A roll votes were given higher weighting for the 50 constituency seats, and B roll votes higher weighting for the 15 district seats.
Campaign
Two parties contested the elections; the Rhodesian Front ran in all 50 constituency seats (in 22 of which it was unopposed) but no district seats. The Rhodesia Party
The Responsible Government Association (RGA), called the Rhodesia Party from 1923, was a political party in Southern Rhodesia. Founded in 1917, it initially advocated responsible government for Southern Rhodesia within the British Empire, as op ...
ran in both the constituency and district seats.[
]
Results
References
{{Zimbabwean elections
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
1965 in Rhodesia
Elections in Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
May 1965 events in Africa