Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
The following is a list of the men who served as Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (also known as the Central African Federation). The Federation was formed on 1 August 1953 from the former colonies of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was formally dissolved on 31 December 1963.
| Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Style | The Right Honourable |
| Appointer | Governor-General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland |
| Formation | 7 September 1953 |
| First holder | Godfrey Huggins |
| Final holder | Roy Welensky |
| Abolished | 31 December 1963 |
List of Prime Ministers of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953–1963)
- Parties
United Rhodesia Party / United Federal Party[1]
| No. | Name (Birth–Death) Constituency |
Portrait | Took office | Left office | Elected (Parliament) |
Political party |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Godfrey Huggins (1883–1971) MP for Salisbury North |
 |
7 September 1953 | 2 November 1956 | 1953 (1st) | United Rhodesia Party |
| First Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Served as Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia for 20 years before becoming Prime Minister of the Federation. Huggins became an advocate of federating Southern Rhodesia with some of the neighbouring British colonies in the region so that they would become an independent state within the British Empire while maintaining white minority rule with only a small number of educated blacks qualifying for the vote in addition to most whites. As a result of his effort the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was created in 1953 uniting Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland with Huggins as the federation's first Prime Minister. Huggins remained in office until 1956 and was elevated to the British peerage as Viscount Malvern on 17 February 1955, prior to his retirement. | ||||||
| 2 | Roy Welensky (1907–1991) MP for Broken Hill |
 |
2 November 1956 | 31 December 1963 | — (1st) 1958 (2nd) 1962 (3rd) |
United Federal Party |
| During his tenure as Prime Minister of the Federation, Welensky opposed British moves towards Black majority rule, and used force to suppress politically motivated violence in the territories. In foreign policy, his government supported the United Kingdom during the Suez Crisis and got involved in the Congo Crisis, accepting white refugees and supporting the State of Katanga and its leader Moïse Tshombe. After the advent of black majority rule in two of the Federation's three territories under 'one man, one vote' constitutions (Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, now Zambia and Malawi respectively), the Federation was dissolved in late 1963. | ||||||
Footnotes
- Merged in 1957 with the Federal Party to become the United Federal Party.
Sources
- Bidwell, Robin Leonard (1974). The British Empire and Successor States, 1900–1972. London: Frank Cass. p. 153. ISBN 0-7146-3017-9.
External links
Prime Ministers of Zimbabwe and its antecedents | |
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Southern Rhodesia .svg.png){kind=small} (1923–1965, the internationally accepted legal name until 1980) |
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Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland .svg.png){kind=small} (1953–1963, of which Southern Rhodesia was part) |
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Rhodesia .svg.png){kind=small} (1965–1979, an unrecognised state) | |
Zimbabwe Rhodesia  (1979, an unrecognised state) | |
Zimbabwe  (since 1980) | |
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