1928 Southern Rhodesian general election

May 2013 December 2023 none 1928 Southern Rhodesian general election Southern Rhodesia parliamentary no 1924 Southern Rhodesian general election 1924 1933 Southern Rhodesian general election 1933 All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly 16 19 September 1928 Howard Moffat 2 September 1927 Rhodesia Party Victoria 26 seats 22 4 11,177 52.76% Progressive – 4 New 6,358 30.01% 00FFFF Rhodesia Labour Party 0 seats 3 3 2,474 11.68% Premier Subsequent Premier Howard Moffat Rhodesia Party Howard Moffat Rhodesia Party General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 19 September 1928, the second elections to the Legislative Assembly. The Rhodesia Party, which had won an overwhelming victory in the previous elections in 1924, was re-elected with a slightly reduced majority. Electoral system The Electoral Act, 1928 added a procedure whereby electors could vote by post, but otherwise retained the same system as used previously. At this election the franchise was codified for the first time by the Electoral Act, 1928. The basis for the act was a consolidation of the previous regulations created by Order in Council, but the opportunity was taken by the Legislative Assembly to change some of the regulations which they had come to dislike. The principal change in the franchise was to restrict registration to British subjects only, whether by birth or naturalisation; previously, resident aliens could take an oath of allegiance to qualify themselves. A change was also made to the literacy requirements for voters, where the test of writing fifty words of English at the dictation of the registering officer was dropped and the would-be voter merely had to be able to fill in the form in their own handwriting. The financial means qualification was the subject of a minor wording change, whereby the word "income" was added as an alternative to salary or wages. Having previously elected the Legislative Assembly by means of 15 electoral districts each returning two members, in 1927 a Delimitation Board was established to recommend new districts. The Board intended to recommend 30 single-member districts, but found this to be impractical given the strong population growth around Salisbury and Bulawayo and therefore recommended 22 single-member districts and four two-member districts. The retention of two-member districts was controversial. The Board found its work hampered by the inaccuracy of the electoral roll, and as a result registration procedure was tightened up in the Electoral Act, 1928. Political parties The development of political parties had advanced since the colony was granted self-government. The Progressive Party, an opposition group opposed to monopolies and advocating more development of Matabeleland, had been formed in June 1927 from a group of independent members, and was able to nominate 22 candidates for the 30 seats. The Rhodesia Labour Party had increased its strength in the towns. Also in 1927 the Country Party had been formed by dissident farmers in the Rhodesian Agricultural Union. Results Rhodesia Party 11177 22 –4 Progressive Party 6358 4 New #00FFFF Rhodesia Labour Party 2474 3 +3 Country Party 662 0 New Independents 514 1 –3 0 25832 Willson By constituency CP – Centre Party Lab – Rhodesia Labour Party PP – Progressive Party RP – Rhodesia Party ConstituencyElectorate and turnoutCandidatePartyVotesBULAWAYO CENTRALTwo members2,138 (48.0%)†James CowdenRP626Donald MacGillivrayRP615†Francis Leslie HadfieldPP442Gilbert Samuel HoughPP368BULAWAYO NORTHTwo members1,915 (47.5%)†Robert James HudsonRP774†Allan Ross WelshRP711Ernest Richard DaviesPP334BULAWAYO SOUTH1,110 (62.3%)Harry Herbert DaviesLab440George JohnsonRP252CHARTER791 (62.5%)Ernest Lucas GuestRP283†Charles Edward GilfillanPP211EASTERN842 (67.1%)†John Louis MartinInd344†Ethel Tawse JollieRP221GATOOMA900 (68.8%)George MunroRP440Sir Ernest William Sanders MontaguPP260William MartinLab93GWANDA671 (70.0%)†George MitchellRP173Herbert Stephen HendersonInd RP170Daniel JudsonPP127GWELO902 (68.2%)†Max DanzigerRP412John William WatkinsonPP203HARTLEY744 (58.7%)Roger Edward DownesPP250†Osmond Charteris Du PortRP187INSIZA736 (64.3%)Stephen Martin Lanigan O'KeeffePP255Joseph Ritchie StewartRP218INYATI717 (59.8%)Charles Spearman JoblingRP252†Frederic Phillip MennellPP177LOMAGUNDI881 (55.3%)†James Murdoch EatonRP272Thomas William WilliamsonCP215MARANDELLAS793 (63.8%)Luke Lot GreenRP266Eric Arthur NobbsPP167John Mitchell MoubrayCP73MATOPO749 (71.6%)†Robert Alexander FletcherRP385Edmund Gilchrist WrightsonPP151MAZOE775 (68.3%)†John Wallace DownieRP345Milton Evan ClevelandCP184QUE QUE844 (70.6%)†Arthur James TaylorRP327Alexander Louis Wynand Koch WorsthornePP269RAYLTON906 (64.6%)Lawrence John Walter KellerLab306†Henry Robert BarbourRP279SALISBURY DISTRICT968 (61.2%)†William Muter LeggateRP268John Arnold EdmondsCP190Edward Cuthbert NanglePP134SALISBURY NORTHTwo members2,205 (64.0%)†Godfrey Martin HugginsRP821†Percival Donald Leslie FynnRP771†Frank William Frederick JohnsonPP627Vernon Arthur LewisPP601SALISBURY SOUTHTwo members2,743 (63.1%)†Harry BertinPP639Gordon Ross MilneRP629Henry FultonRP616John William DunlopLab600Frederick EylesLab505Walter HillPP473SELUKWE806 (67.6%)†Robert Dunipace GilchristPP300James Baillie MacdonaldRP245SHAMVA473 (76.5%)Mark Douglas ClaxtonRP259Trevor FletcherPP103UMTALI NORTH707 (76.0%)†Charles EickhoffRP292Alexander TullochPP137William HarrisonLab108UMTALI SOUTH741 (71.9%)Jonathan Hunter MalcolmLab253Oswald Trevor BakerRP150Robert Chaloner Critchley LongPP130VICTORIA797†Howard Unwin MoffatRPunopposedWANKIE775 (55.6%)†Alexander Robert ThomsonRP262George Francis ScougalLab169 Changes during the Assembly Mazoe John Wallace Downie gave up his seat on 28 October 1930 on his appointment as High Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia in London, precipitating a byelection in his electoral district which was held on 5 December 1930. ConstituencyCandidatePartyVotesMAZOEEdward Walter Lionel NoaksInd361Frank SmithReform Party98Cyril AllenRP63 Salisbury South Due to the resignation of Gordon Ross Milne who was in ill health, a byelection in this electoral district was held on 13 March 1931. ConstituencyCandidatePartyVotesSALISBURY SOUTHJacob Hendrik SmitReform Party564Alexander Louis Wynand Koch WorsthorneLab526Guy Harcourt PeallRP310Henry FultonPP168 Gwelo Max Danziger left the Rhodesia Party on 4 June 1931 and simultaneously decided to vacate his seat to test the opinion of his electors. The result of the election was: ConstituencyCandidatePartyVotesGWELOMax DanzigerIndunopposed Party changes In October 1929 the Progressive Party merged with the Country Party to form the Reform Party. 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) Category:Parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe Southern Rhodesia General Southern Rhodesia Category:Election and referendum articles with incomplete results Southern Rhodesia