The Union Federal Party (Afrikaans: Verenigde Federale Party) was a relatively liberal white South African party that broke away from the United Party after the 1953 election. It never gained any seats in Parliament, and ceased to exist in 1960.

Background

The party was initially led by Senator

George Heaton Nicholls George Heaton Nicholls, PC (1876 – 25 September 1959) was a British-born South African politician. Biography Born in England, Nicholls served with the British Army in India, and saw action in the Burma and Tirah campaigns. He came to South ...

who was previously the United Party opposition leader in the Senate. It was formed on 10 May 1953. It was founded by members of

Torch Commando The Torch Commando was a South African organisation, born out of the work of the Springbok Legion, a South African organisation of World War II veterans, founded in 1941 during the Second World War, and the War Veterans Action Committee estab ...

from

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

. The party was also said to have support from leaders of the Commando in other provinces. It was a

British diaspora The British diaspora consists of people of British ancestry (and their descendants) who emigrated from the United Kingdom. For the purposes of this article, the people of British Overseas Territories are not included as ''British people'' thoug ...

party, committed to retaining links with the

British 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 ...

and

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

. The party was centred in Natal, concerned with ensuring the province's autonomy. Federal provincial autonomy was seen as a way preventing Afrikaner nationalism from dominating the political scene and could include ceding from the Union if that occurred or English language rights in the Union were interfered with. It also wished to explore liberalising the non-white franchise. The relatively liberal franchise policy for non-whites included Indians to be enrolled on a communal voters roll similar to the

Coloureds Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

in the

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...

and the possibility of a voters roll for Black South Africans who were highly educated. The first and major test of the party's electoral appeal was a by-election in the

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

parliamentary constituency of Berea. The party candidate was Col. A.C. Martin, locally popular as a war hero and recent headmaster of

Durban High School Durban High School is an all-boys public school in Durban, South Africa. DHS opened its doors in 1866 in two rooms and with seven pupils in Smith Street. From there it moved to a disused granary in Cato Square in 1880, just after the Zulu ...

, but he received only a third of the votes. In the 1954 Natal Provincial Council elections, the party won no seats and only a fifth of the total vote. In the 1958 general election the party did not field any candidates. With Martin as its leader, the party campaigned unsuccessfully for a "No" vote in the 1960 national referendum on whether South Africa should become a republic. After that defeat, the Union Federal Party was dissolved. Heard, K.A. General Elections in South Africa 1943-70 Oxford: Oxford University Press 1974

References

Political parties established in 1953 Defunct political parties in South Africa {{SouthAfrica-party-stub