The Southern Rhodesian Liberal Party was a political party in

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing colony, 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 reg ...

, founded in 1943 by

Jacob Smit Jacob Hendrik Smit, CMG (3 September 1881 – 22 July 1959) was a Southern Rhodesian merchant and politician. Born in the Netherlands, Smit migrated to Rhodesia and traded as a merchant, before becoming Southern Rhodesia's Minister of Finance in 19 ...

(1881–1959), the former United Party (UP)

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

. It is thought that Smit split from the UP largely because

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 ...

Sir Godfrey Martin Huggins had failed to include him in the exclusive

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Defence Committee. In his ''A History of Rhodesia'', Robert Blake writes that Smit's party, "in accordance with the Rhodesian tradition of adopting the most misleading political nomenclature possible, called themselves 'Liberals.'" The party was, in fact, pronouncedly illiberal, and attempted to unite conservative, non-trade union opposition to the UP while opposing government economic regulation and the advancement of Black political interests. The Liberal Party did well in the 1946 general election, winning 12 out of 30 seats in the

Legislative Assembly, but in the 1948 general election it won only five seats and its support declined subsequently. It was to become one of the political precursors to the future

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 ...

(RF) party.

References

;References ;Bibliography * 1943 establishments in Southern Rhodesia Conservative parties in Zimbabwe Defunct political parties in Zimbabwe Political parties in Rhodesia Political parties established in 1943 Protestant political parties White nationalism in Zimbabwe White nationalist parties {{Rhodesia-party-stub

See also

References