The 1960 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference was the tenth

Meeting A meeting is when two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings can be used as form of group decision making. Defini ...

of the

Heads of Government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

. It was held in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in May 1960, and was hosted by that country's

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...

. This was the first Commonwealth conference since Malayan independence in August 1957 and saw the growing importance of the non-white "

New Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

" countries. Malaya's prime minister,

Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Abdul Hamid Halim Shah ( ms, ‏تونكو عبد الرحمن ڤوترا الحاج ابن سلطان عبد الحميد حليم شاه, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; 8 Febru ...

and his government vigorously opposed the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

policies of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and, with the support of Pakistan, India and Ghana, demanded that the issue be addressed by the Commonwealth. However, Macmillan insisted that the final communique could only include matters on which the leaders were unanimous.

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

advised the meeting that it would be becoming a republic and South Africa advised that it would be holding a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on the issue. Ghana was advised that its continued membership in the Commonwealth as a republic was recognised, however, South Africa was advised that it would need to seek consent of other Commonwealth governments for its membership to continue.

Participants

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference, 1960 1960 in London 1960 in South Africa

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

Diplomatic conferences in the United Kingdom 20th-century diplomatic conferences 1960 in international relations Events associated with apartheid 1960 conferences May 1960 events in the United Kingdom 1960s in the City of Westminster South Africa and the Commonwealth of Nations Harold Macmillan Robert Menzies John Diefenbaker Kwame Nkrumah Jawaharlal Nehru