General elections were held in

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

on 30 July 1974. They saw the

Rhodesian Front The Rhodesian Front (RF) was a conservative political party in Southern Rhodesia, subsequently known as Rhodesia. Formed in March 1962 by white Rhodesians opposed to decolonisation and majority rule, it won that December's general election and s ...

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...

re-elected, once more winning every one of the 50 seats elected by white voters.30 July 1974 House of Assembly Election
African Elections Database

Background

Since the previous election in 1970, the main African nationalist groups had changed their strategy and gone into exile in

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

(and to a lesser extent

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

and

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

), launching a

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

to overthrow white minority rule by force. The main African groups, the

Zimbabwe African National Union The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant socialist organisation that fought against white-minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) in 1963. ZANU split in 1975 into wings l ...

(ZANU),

Zimbabwe African People's Union The Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) is a Zimbabwean political party. It is a militant communist organization and political party that campaigned for majority rule in Rhodesia, from its founding in 1961 until 1980. In 1987, it merged with ...

(ZAPU) and the Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe (FROLIZI), formed the African National Council under Bishop

Abel Muzorewa Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa (14 April 1925 – 8 April 2010), also commonly referred to as Bishop Muzorewa, was a Zimbabwean bishop and politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from the Internal Settlement t ...

to act as a collective political leadership and undertake any negotiations with the Rhodesian government. In June 1974, the African National Council rejected settlement proposals which had come out of discussions between itself and the Rhodesian government. As the Rhodesian Parliament was into its fifth year, a general election became a real prospect. Timothy Gibbs of the Rhodesia Party announced on 9 June 1974 that he expected a September election, and on 19 June, Prime Minister Ian Smith announced that there would be an election imminently (he did not name the date). He also announced round table talks with Africans, including the Council of Chiefs. These talks were rejected by the African National Council as a waste of time.

Campaign

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 opp ...

, a white opposition party, had been formed by ex-Rhodesian Front MP

Allan Savory Clifford Allan Redin Savory (born 15 September 1935) is a Zimbabwean livestock farmer and former Rhodesian politician. He is the president and co-founder of the Savory Institute. He originated Holistic management (agriculture), holistic managem ...

in 1972. They were a moderate group which advocated more moves towards including the African population in internal politics. Early in June 1974, Savory made a speech at Hartley in which he was reported as saying that if he had been a black Rhodesian, he would be a terrorist. The uproar was such that Savory was forced from the leadership (replaced by Gibbs) and resigned from the party on 16 June. Despite the turmoil, the Rhodesia Party managed to nominate candidates in 40 out of the 50 seats. There were also several Independent candidates including six right-wingers sponsored by the Rhodesian Group. The multi-racial Centre Party, which had provided the main opposition at the previous election, nominated a single candidate (who was from an Indian background). When nominations closed on 7 July, two seats (including that of Ian Smith) were elected unopposed. A victory by the Rhodesian Front was almost inevitable, although six seats were regarded as marginal. The most marginal seat was clearly

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

City, where a right-wing Rhodesian Front candidate Ted Sutton-Pryce faced Dr

Ahrn Palley Ahrn Palley (13 February 1914 – 6 May 1993) was an Independent (politician), independent politician in Rhodesia who criticised the Ian Smith, Smith administration and the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia), Unilateral Declarati ...

, an Independent ex-member of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

who had been a lone white opponent of UDI. In the 1970 election, the Rhodesian Front had defeated a mixed-race Independent candidate by only 40 votes, with a Centre Party candidate taking 157. Allan Savory, despite his departure from the Rhodesia Party, fought in Highlands North in the Salisbury suburbs as an Independent. The Rhodesian Front responded to the challenge from the Rhodesia Party by attacking it for holding secret negotiations with the African National Council behind the backs of the Rhodesia government with the intent of undermining them. Ian Smith identified the Rhodesia Party with the 'liberal establishment' of Rhodesia, which had been responsible for the 1962 constitution and the inadequate arrangements of the

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation (CAF), was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southern ...

in 1953.

Electoral system

The electorate of

returned 66 members of the

House of Assembly of Rhodesia The Parliament of Rhodesia was the bicameral legislature in Rhodesia from 1970 to 1979. Three general elections were held (namely in 1970, 1974 and 1977). Senate The upper chamber was called the Senate, and it had 23 members: ten White Rhodes ...

, in three different classes of seat: * European roll seats: 50 members were returned from single-member constituencies by voters who were either of European, Asian or mixed (Coloured) descent. * African roll seats: 8 members were returned from single-member constituencies by voters of African descent. * Tribal seats: 8 seats were returned by Tribal electoral colleges made up of the Chiefs of the Tribes. Both European and African rolls had a range of property qualifications. No change to boundaries or the qualification of voters was made compared to the 1970 election. File:Rhodesia1970a.png, Rural constituencies. File:Salisbury1970.png, Constituencies in Salisbury. File:Bulawayo1970.png, Constituencies in Bulawayo. File:RhodAfrican1970.png, African roll constituencies.

Results

European roll seats

African seats

Tribal seats

* HIGHVELD: Bartholomew Augustine Mabika * KARIBA: Peter Mhletshwa Nkomo * LOWVELD: Alford Dzingirai Chademana * MANICA:

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...

Naboth Absolom Gandazara * PAGATI: Fani Mlingo * PIONEER:

Josia Bvajurayi Hove * TULU: Zephaniah Bafana Dube * ZAMBEZI:

Takawira Aaron Mungate

Changes during the Assembly

Pioneer

Josia Hove died on 14 June 1976. At the byelection on 5 August 1976, Adam Hove was elected to replace him; Benjamin Panga Mbuisa and Twyman Mafohla Sibanda were unsuccessful candidates.

Party changes

The Land Tenure Amendment Bill of 1977 was highly controversial among Rhodesian Front MPs who objected to the opening of some areas previously designated for Europeans to African ownership. In a vote on 4 March 1977, twelve Rhodesian Front MPs voted against the Bill on a three line whip. They were Reginald Cowper, Dennis Fawcett Phillips, Richard Hope Hall, Robert McGee, John Newington, Peter Nilson, Gordon Olds, Ian Sandeman, Rodney Simmonds and Ted Sutton-Pryce. The Rhodesian press quickly nicknamed them The Dirty Dozen. In July 1977 these MPs formed the right-wing Rhodesian Action Party; this action precipitated the 1977 election as it deprived the government of the needed two-thirds majority to amend the constitution.

References

{{Zimbabwe elections Elections in Rhodesia

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results