Southern Rhodesian general election, 1939

Southern Rhodesian general election, 1939

April 14, 1939 (1939-04-14)
All 30 seats to the Legislative Assembly 16 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	76.7%
First party Second party Third party   160x150px Leader Godfrey Huggins Harry Davies Party United Party Rhodesia Labour Party Reform Party Leader's seat Salisbury North Hillside Last election 24 seats, 61.9% 5 seats, 26.9% 1 seat, 11.2% Seats before 24 5 1 Seats won 23 7 0 Seat change 1 2 1 Popular vote 11,161 7,353 2,773 Percentage 50.4% 33.2% 12.5% Swing 11.5 6.3% 1.3%
Prime Minister before election Godfrey Huggins United Party Elected Prime Minister Godfrey Huggins United Party

The Southern Rhodesia general election of 14 April 1939 was the fifth election since the colony of Southern Rhodesia was granted self-government. Prime Minister Godfrey Huggins' United Party government were re-elected in a landslide. The election was called slightly earlier than the deadline as Huggins feared the German invasion of Czechoslovakia would lead to European War.

Franchise and electoral procedure

In 1937, a new Electoral Act was passed. The franchise was extended slightly to those who were not British subjects but who had been in active wartime service in the armed forces. Electors were also required to have lived for three months in their electoral districts. The requirement for qualifying for the vote on the basis of receiving salary or wages of £100 per annum was extended also to people with income of £100 per annum, a change which principally benefited those who had investment income but few assets. Voters were also no longer required to demonstrate proficiency in English through a dictation test. The postal vote, which had been introduced in 1928, was extended in 1937 to all voters living more than 25 miles away from the nearest polling station. Finally, those who had drawn government rations were disenfranchised.

Electoral districts

A boundary revision in 1938 enabled the elimination of the four remaining double-member electoral districts as the Colony was split into 30 single-member districts.

Summary result

Electorate: 28,894 (in contested seats, 28,032) Turnout: 76.7%

Party	Seats in 1934	Candidates	Elected	Unopposed	Popular vote
					Votes	%
United Party	24	29	23	1	11,161	50.4
Rhodesia Labour Party	5	26	7	-	7,353	33.2
Reform Party	1	16	-	-	2,773	12.5
Independents	-	3	-	-	492	2.2
Union Party	-	2	-	-	380	1.7
Totals	30	76	30	1	22,159	100%

Results

• Ind – Independent
• Lab – Rhodesia Labour Party
• RP – Reform Party
• Union – Union Party
• UP – United Party

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
AVONDALE 962 (82.9%)	†Harry Bertin	UP	571
	Colin Ross McLachlan	Lab	217
BULAWAYO CENTRAL 1,116 (82.1%)	William Hives Eastwood	UP	393
	†James Cowden	RP	272
	Philip Harvey Veale	Lab	251
BULAWAYO EAST 1,025 (84.5%)	†John Banks Brady	UP	639
	Donald MacGillivray	RP	227
BULAWAYO NORTH 1,023 (84.9%)	Thomas Hugh William Beadle	UP	461
	Charles Edward Harrison	RP	243
	William John Phelps	Lab	165
BULAWAYO SOUTH 1,279 (77.8%)	†Donald Macintyre	Lab	534
	Robert Woodward Hammond	UP	461
CHARTER 838 (82.3%)	†Ernest Lucas Guest	UP	355
	Johan Christoffel Kruger	Union	181
	Henry Stephen Sharp	Lab	154
EASTERN 1,004 (77.7%)	†Jacobus Petrus De Kock	UP	399
	Douglas Abrahamson	Union	199
	Reginald Herbert Bruce Dickson	Lab	182
GATOOMA 1,031 (85.5%)	Thomas Alfred Kimble	Lab	416
	James Dalton	UP	293
	Thomas James Golding	RP	173
GWANDA 839 (71.2%)	†Frank Ernest Harris	UP	381
	David Wood Young	RP	216
GWELO 954 (78.9%)	†Frank Delano Thompson	UP	326
	Robert Williamson	RP	243
	William John Bassett	Lab	184
HARTLEY 969 (82.1%)	Hugh Volant Wheeler	UP	264
	William Muter Leggate	RP	215
	† Henry Hamilton Beamish	Ind	196
	John Allen	Lab	121
HIGHLANDS 953 (82.1%)	Leslie Benjamin Fereday	UP	447
	William Frith Wilson	Lab	267
	John Arthur Douglas Hawksley	RP	68
HILLSIDE 1,017 (85.8%)	†Harry Herbert Davies	Lab	544
	George Victor Wallace	UP	329
INSIZA 887 (73.2%)	†Robert Clarkson Tredgold	UP	335
	James Turner Durward	Lab	198
	Leo George Robinson	RP	116
LOMAGUNDI 834 (64.1%)	†Lewis Aloys MacDonald Hastings	UP	393
	Mrs. Otilia Liebermann	Lab	142
MARANDELLAS 891 (74.2%)	William Henry Ralston	UP	366
	Alexander Aitken Draper	Lab	148
	†Alfred William Vincent Crawley	RP	147
MAZOE 873 (78.9%)	†Edward Walter Lionel Noaks	UP	402
	Jack Herbert Keightley	Lab	139
	James Murdoch Eaton	RP	75
	Mark Douglas Claxton	Ind	73
QUE QUE 1,072 (79.9%)	†Charles Walter Leppington	UP	434
	de Lacey Henry Stowe	Lab	422
RAYLTON 954 (80.6%)	†Lawrence John Walter Keller	Lab	559
	Charles Spencer	UP	210
SALISBURY CENTRAL 1,089 (76.4%)	Edgar Pope Vernall	UP	408
	Mrs. Gladys Maasdorp	Lab	288
	George Harry Stone	RP	136
SALISBURY CITY 1,012 (78.6%)	†Jacob Hendrik Smit	UP	519
	Alec Pelham	Lab	276
SALISBURY GARDENS 966 (76.4%)	†Sir Percival Donald Leslie Fynn	UP	410
	Lancelot Middleton Foggin	RP	155
	Rex Atherton Rawstorne	Lab	111
SALISBURY NORTH 862	†Godfrey Martin Huggins	UP	unopposed
SALISBURY SOUTH 1,049 (79.0%)	†George Henry Walker	Lab	546
	Heiman Joseph Hoffman	UP	283
SELUKWE 954 (76.6%)	†Max Danziger	UP	410
	Ernest Millington	RP	321
UMTALI NORTH 844 (83.8%)	Edgar Cuthbert Fremantle Whitehead	UP	498
	Thomas Norris	Lab	209
UMTALI SOUTH 820 (76.1%)	James Brown Lister	Lab	401
	Matthew Henry Gibson	Ind	223
VICTORIA 1,014 (77.2%)	†William Alexander Eustace Winterton	UP	497
	Robert Joseph Austin	Lab	286
WANKIE 1,000 (73.0%)	Allan Watson Whittington	Lab	346
	Cyril Mainwaring Newman	UP	311
	Henry Robert Barbour	RP	73
WESTERN 894 (79.0%)	Patrick Bissett Fletcher	UP	366
	Albert James Davies	Lab	247
	Wilfred Denton Estment	RP	93

Byelections

Salisbury Gardens

Sir Percival Fynn died on 25 April 1940. Owing to the war, normal party politics had been suspended and a joint selection conference including members of both the United Party and the Rhodesia Labour Party was included. Four candidates stood for the selection: Cecil Douglas Dryden (United Party), Mrs. Gladys Maasdorp (Rhodesia Labour Party), Arthur William Redfern (Independent) and O.P. Wheeler (Independent). Redfern was selected and returned unopposed on 26 June 1940.

Umtali North

Edgar Whitehead resigned from the Assembly on 24 June 1940. A byelection was held to replace him on 27 August 1940.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
UMTALI NORTH 821 (53.8%)	Tom Ian Finlay Wilson	UP	312
	Thomas Norris	Lab	130

Hartley

Hugh Volant Wheeler resigned on 30 June 1940. A byelection was held in his constituency on 27 August 1940.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
HARTLEY 943 (49.9%)	William Muter Leggate	RP	247
	Tom Cecil Leonard Howard	Ind	120
	Leonard Tolcher Tracey	Ind	104

Lomagundi

Lewis Aloys MacDonald Hastings resigned on 30 June 1940. A byelection was held in his constituency on 27 August 1940.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
LOMAGUNDI 827 (48.1%)	George Henry Hackwill	UP	220
	Edward George Holman	Ind	178

Victoria

William Alexander Eustace Winterton resigned on 30 October 1940. A byelection was held on 10 December 1940.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
VICTORIA 1,014 (61.4%)	Walter Brumage Richards	UP	232
	Harry Joseph Filmer	Lab	228
	Richard Fraser Dott	Ind National	163

Insiza

Robert Clarkson Tredgold resigned on 28 February 1943. A byelection was held on 21 April 1943 to replace him.

Constituency	Candidate	Party	Votes
INSIZA	Leslie Thomas Smith	The Labour Party	280
	Victor Henry Sauerman	Lab	197
	John Everett Chick	UP	151

References

• Source Book of Parliamentary Elections and Referenda in Southern Rhodesia 1898–1962 ed. by F.M.G. Willson (Department of Government, University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Salisbury 1963)
• Holders of Administrative and Ministerial Office 1894–1964 by F.M.G. Willson and G.C. Passmore, assisted by Margaret T. Mitchell (Source Book No. 3, Department of Government, University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Salisbury 1966)