1959 Northern Rhodesian general election

General elections were held in Northern Rhodesia on 20 March 1959,"Racial Issue In N. Rhodesia Elections: African Boycott", The Times, 12 March 1959, p11, Issue 54407 although voting did not take place in two constituencies until 9 April. The United Federal Party (UFP) was expected to win the elections, and did so by taking 13 of the 22 elected seats on the Legislative Council. Electoral system The elections were the first held under the Lennox-Boyd constitution."Election Move By Africans" The Times, 23 December 1958 It provided for a 30-member Legislative Council with 22 elected members, six official members and two appointed members. The 22 elected seats were divided into 12 "ordinary" seats with mostly European voters, six "special" seats mainly reserved for African voters, two reserved for African candidates and two reserved for European candidates."Sir R. Welensky Gains Election Victory: Party Sure Of 13 Seats", The Times, 23 March 1959, p10, Issue 54416 "Ordinary" voters had to have at least four years of secondary education and either an income of at least £300 a year or own property worth £500. They could also qualify by having primary education and earning at least £480 a year or owning £1,000 of property, or for those not meeting the educational requirements, have an annual income of at least £720 or own over £1,500 of property. Certain people were automatically entitled to register as "ordinary voters", including ministers of religion, chiefs recognised by the Governor and wives of anyone qualified as an "ordinary" voter (although in the case of polygamous marriages, only the senior wife qualified).David C. Mulford (1964) The Northern Rhodesian General Election 1962, Oxford University Press, pp11−12 "Special" voters had to have at least two years of secondary education and an income of at least £120 a year, or have an income of at least £150 or own property worth £500 or more. Automatic qualification as a "special" voter was given to pensioners receiving a monthly or annual pension for at least 20 years' service for one employer, headmen or hereditary councillors with at least two years of unpaid service and who were recognised by their chief, or be the wife (or senior wife) of any qualified "special" voter. All voters had to be over 21, able to complete their registration form in English and have lived in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland for at two years and in their constituency for three months. The African reserved seats were created by combining several ordinary seats, whilst the European reserved seats were based on combinations of the special seats. Every voter had two votes, one for their special or ordinary constituency member, and one for their reserved member. In the ordinary and European reserved seats, special votes were not allowed to account for more than a third of the total. A total of 30,234 people were registered to vote, up from 15,505 for the 1954 elections. Of the 23,388 "ordinary" voters, 20,546 were Europeans, 2,046 Indians and 796 Africans. The 6,846 special voters included 6,821 Africans, 20 Europeans and five Indians."N Rhodesia's General Election: Full List of Candidates", East Africa and Rhodesia, 12 March 1959, p821 ConstituenciesOrdinaryReserved AfricanOrdinary votersSpecial votersBroken HillSouth Central2,208394Livingstone1,200140Lusaka Central1,428102Lusaka East1,503289Lusaka West2,483163Southern1,243381ChingolaCopperbelt1,317325Kitwe East1,485195Kitwe West1,672366Luanshya2,296275Mufulira1,729403Ndola2,943267SpecialReserved EuropeanOrdinary votersSpecial votersBarotselandWestern Rural239488North Western187637South Western197620EasternEastern Rural686790Luapula306473Northern266538Total23,3886,846Source: East Africa and Rhodesia Campaign A total of 54 candidates contested the elections, of which 20 were African. Four parties ran in the election, with the UFP led by John Roberts putting forward 18 candidates, the Dominion Party 10, the Central Africa Party led by John Moffat seven and the Northern Rhodesian African National Congress led by Harry Nkumbula one (Nkumbula himself). Seventeen candidates ran as independents, with one running as a Central Africa Party independent. The Zambian African National Congress, a breakaway from the NRANC, called for a boycott. The UFP were unopposed in two seats."Northern Rhodesia Elections", East Africa and Rhodesia, 26 March 1959, p880 No candidates were nominated for the Northern and Luapula Special constituencies, requiring nominations to be reopened until 19 March. The UFP held a centrist position, supporting dominion status for the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and opposing the British Colonial Office (reflecting the views of most white Northern Rhodesians). The Dominion Party put forward a right-wing platform including supporting a partition of the Federation into European and African areas. The Central Africa Party ran on a liberal platform. Results United Federal Party 17376 13 +3 Dominion Party 4055 1 New Central Africa Party 3402 3 New Northern Rhodesian African National Congress 572 1 New Independent Central Africa Party 247 1 New Independents 7964 1 –1 Vacant 2 – +10 Northern Rhodesia Election Office By voter roll PartyOrdinary seatsSpecial seatsAfrican seatsEuropean seatsTotalseatsVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsVotes%SeatsUnited Federal Party8,54059.371142114.3007,85553.58256034.40013Dominion Party3,32923.141−−−7264.950−−−1Central Africa Party9766.78057119.4017875.3701,06865.6023Northern Rhodesian African National Congress−−−57219.431––––––1Independent Central Africa Party–––2478.391–––––––Independents1,54010.7101,13338.4915,29136.090–––2Vacant–––––2––––––2Invalid/blank votes268–– ––752–– –––Total14,653100122,944100615,41110021,628100222Registered voters/turnout21,82567.14–3,844 – – ––Source: Northern Rhodesia Election Office By constituency ConstituencyCandidatePartyVotes%OrdinaryBroken HillJohn RobertsUnited Federal Party1,27574.43Gladys DouglasIndependent43825.57ChingolaWilliam Gray DunlopUnited Federal PartyUnopposedKitwe EastHugh StanleyUnited Federal Party83177.95Francis SmithDominion Party23522.05Kitwe WestJerry SteynUnited Federal Party89057.09Cecil EarlDominion Party66942.91LivingstoneMaurice RabbUnited Federal PartyUnopposedLuanshyaRodney MalcomsonUnited Federal Party1,20874.38Robert GreerDominion Party41625.62Lusaka CentralErnest SergeantUnited Federal Party60762.64Donald ClarkeIndependent18819.40Frederick GrayIndependent12112.49Cyril ThatcherDominion Party535.47Lusaka EastEbden CarlisleUnited Federal Party56246.18Alexander ScottIndependent40533.28Charles FlemingDominion Party23519.31Irene BuchananIndependent151.23Lusaka WestEric Grindley-FerrisUnited Federal Party73542.58Ralph SealCentral Africa Party33619.47Frank DerbyDominion Party28216.34Douglas EdmondsIndependent27116.34Margaretha SeibritzIndependent1025.91MufuliraPieter WulffUnited Federal Party73452.32Bertram RedmondDominion Party66947.68NdolaCecil Dennistoun BurneyUnited Federal Party1,09457.73Norman HuntCentral Africa Party64033.77William van ZylDominion Party1618.50SouthernGert SmithDominion Party60950.21Geoffrey BeckettUnited Federal Party60449.79SpecialBarotselandKwalombota MulondaIndependent38266.90Mufaya MubunaUnited Federal Party16829.42Yuyi NgangaIndependent213.68EasternAlfred GondweCentral Africa Party39836.28Chiwala BandaIndependent29226.62Isaac NkholomaUnited Federal Party25323.06Shadrick ChemeIndependent15414.04LuapulaNo candidate nominatedNorth-WesternWilliam NkanzaIndependent Central Africa Party24739.02Samuel MbilishiIndependent21323.65Beston MulukuCentral Africa Party17327.33NorthernNo candidate nominatedSouth-WesternHarry NkumbulaNorthern Rhodesian African National Congress57288.96Robinson NabulyatoIndependent7111.04AfricanReservedCopperbeltGabriel MusumbulwaUnited Federal Party4,45158.26Lawrence KatilunguIndependent2,67435.00Robinson PutaIndependent3134.10Pascale SokataIndependent2022.64South CentralWilliam KazokahUnited Federal Party3,40448.50Safeli ChilesheIndependent2,10229.95Gwale HabanyamaCentral Africa Party78711.21Noah ChyapeniDominion Party72610.34EuropeanReservedEastern RuralJohn MoffatCentral Africa Party66260.90Reuben KidsonUnited Federal Party42539.10Western RuralHarry FranklinCentral Africa Party40675.05Hugh MitcheleyUnited Federal Party13524.95Source: Northern Rhodesia Election OfficeNorthern Rhodesia: Legislative Council elections – March 20th, 1959: Analysis of results, Northern Rhodesia Election Office By-elections By-elections were held in the Luapula and Northern Special constituencies on 9 April. ConstituencyCandidatePartyVotes%LuapulaSamson MunungaIndependent23451.88M M Simfukwe 11325.06John Mutale 5712.64G E Tafuna 4710.42NorthernLakement NganduIndependent22842.22M G M Chali 22341.30Mateyo Kakumbi 8916.48Source: East Africa and Rhodesia"Election Results", East Africa and Rhodesia, 25 April 1959, p1007 Aftermath Following the election, Governor Arthur Benson appointed six ministers; John Roberts as Minister of Labour and Mines, Ebden Carlisle as Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, William Gray Dunlop as Minister of Transport and Works, Rodney Malcomson as Minister of Local Government, Gabriel Musumbulwa as Minister of African Education and Edson Mwamba as Minister of African Agriculture."New Ministers For N. Rhodesia: Two Africans Included", The Times, 28 March 1959, p5, Issue 54420 See also List of members of the Legislative Council of Northern Rhodesia (1959–62) References General Northern Rhodesia Category:Parliamentary elections in Zambia Category:Election and referendum articles with incomplete results