Harry Herbert Davies (9 June 1878 – 31 August 1957) was a

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 ...

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in the territory's Legislative Assembly from 1929 to 1944. Originally from

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, he moved to Southern Rhodesia in 1920 and became an

estate agent An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting, or management of properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged i ...

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

. He ran for the Southern Rhodesian Labour Party in Bulawayo District in the 1924 general election, but was not elected. After standing successfully in Bulawayo South in the 1928 election, he sat in the

Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly 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 ...

for 20 years. In 1929 he was elected leader of the Southern Rhodesian Labour Party, thereby becoming Leader of the Opposition, a post he held until 1944. Re-elected in Bulawayo South in the

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

and 1934 elections, in

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

Davies switched to the new Hillside constituency in southern Bulawayo, which he won, and held in

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

. On the outbreak of the Second World War he accepted the Prime Minister

Godfrey Huggins Godfrey Martin Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern (6 July 1883 – 8 May 1971), was a Rhodesian politician and physician. He served as the fourth Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia from 1933 to 1953 and remained in office as the first Prime Minis ...

's offer to come into a national government with ministers from both sides of the House, and served as Minister of Internal Affairs from 1939 to 1943. Davies's co-operation with Huggins infuriated many of his Labour contemporaries and caused an acrimonious split in the party. The two Labour factions reconciled in 1943 and briefly threatened Huggins's premiership, but a heated dispute over whether Labour should become multiracial led to the party's disintegration in 1944. Davies's political career ended after his defeat in Hillside by Julian Greenfield of Huggins's United Party in the 1948 general election. The former Labour leader died 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 ...

on 31 August 1957, at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Harry 1878 births 1957 deaths People from Bulawayo Rhodesian politicians Members of the Legislative Assembly of Southern Rhodesia White Rhodesian people British emigrants to Southern Rhodesia