1934 Southern Rhodesian general election

* * *

| <- 1933 | 7 November 1934 (1934-11-07) | 1939 ->

|
|

* * *

All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly
16 seats needed for a majority
Turnout| 64.6%
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

|
|
|

|  |  |
Leader  | Godfrey Huggins | Harry Davies |
Party  | United | Labour | Reform
Leader's seat  | Salisbury district  | Bulawayo South |
Last election  | –  | 5 seats  | 16 seats
Seats won  | 24  | 5  | 1
Seat change  | New |  | 15
Popular vote  | 14,813  | 6,092  | 2,237
Percentage  | 64.01%  | 26.32%  | 9.67%

* * *

| Prime Minister before election

Godfrey Huggins
United Party

| Elected Prime Minister

Godfrey Huggins
United Party

|

General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 7 November 1934, fourth elections since the colony of Southern Rhodesia was granted self-government. The elections were called only a year after the previous elections when the Prime Minister, Godfrey Huggins, formed the United Party as a merger of the conservative section of his Reform Party and the former governing Rhodesia Party. Huggins succeeded in winning a landslide, defeating all but one of his Reform Party opponents.

## Electoral system[edit]

No changes were made to the franchise, the procedure of elections, or electoral boundaries since the previous election.

## Political parties[edit]

The Reform Party was believed by many in Rhodesia to be a left-wing party but Huggins had presented a cautiously conservative Cabinet after winning power in 1933. In particular, Finance Minister Jacob Smit was a strong believer in conventional economics and opponent of Keynesianism. The course of government led eventually to a confrontration in August 1934 with the left-wing of the party over reform to the Rhodesian railways. Huggins decided to approach Sir Percy Fynn, leader of the Rhodesian Party, who pledged support for a National Government under Huggins.

However, the Acting Governor refused a dissolution on the grounds that the Assembly had many years left, and the government had not been defeated. Huggins persuaded the majority of the Executive of the Reform Party to suspend the party's constitution to allow a National Government on 17 September, and then formed the United Party with Fynn, asking a second time for a dissolution on the basis of a changed party alignment. This time the Acting Governor acceded.

## Results[edit]

Party| Votes| %| Seats| +/–

|
|
|
|

| United Party| 14,813| 64.01| 24| New
| Rhodesia Labour Party| 6,092| 26.32| 5| 0
| Reform Party| 2,237| 9.67| 1| –15
Total| 23,142| 100.00| 30| 0
Registered voters/turnout| 25,879| –|
Source: Willson

### By constituency[edit]

* Lab – Rhodesia Labour Party
* Ref – Reform Party
* UP – United Party

Constituency
Electorate and turnout | Candidate  | Party  | Votes

|
|
|

BULAWAYO CENTRAL
Two members
2,018 (61.4%) | †James Cowden | UP  | 683
†Donald Macintyre | Lab  | 654
Arthur James Butler  | UP  | 604
Edward Jonathan Davies  | Lab  | 536
BULAWAYO NORTH
Two members
1,989 (65.1%) | †John Banks Brady | UP  | 967
†Allan Ross Welsh | UP  | 910
David Bennie  | Lab  | 421
Frederick Martin  | Lab  | 291
BULAWAYO SOUTH
1,257 (70.6%) | †Harry Herbert Davies | Lab  | 458
Hugh Beadle | UP  | 430
CHARTER
623 | †Ernest Lucas Guest | UP  | unopposed
EASTERN
886 | †John Louis Martin | UP  | unopposed
GATOOMA
842 (77.3%) | †William Sydney Senior | UP  | 366
Thomas Alfred Kimble  | Lab  | 285
GWANDA
677 (70.2%) | †Sir Hugh Grenville Williams | Ref  | 257
Herbert Hildeyard Phillips  | UP  | 218
GWELO
1,048 (63.2%) | †Frank Delano Thompson | UP  | 377
Albert Hill  | Lab  | 285
HARTLEY
571 (79.5%) | James Joseph Conway | UP  | 256
Arthur Bertram Shepherd-Cross  | Ref  | 117
Christopher Holderness  | Lab  | 81
INSIZA
644 (69.9%) | Robert Clarkson Tredgold | UP  | 273
Leo George Robinson  | Lab  | 110
Joseph Hussey  | Ref  | 67
INYATI
756 (67.7%) | Frank Ernest Harris | UP  | 334
John Bazeley  | Lab  | 178
LOMAGUNDI
818 (68.7%) | †Lewis Aloys MacDonald Hastings | UP  | 365
Frank Smith  | Ref  | 197
MARANDELLAS
812 (58.6%) | Alfred William Vincent Crawley | UP  | 251
†Reginald Herbert Bruce Dickson | Ref  | 225
MATOPO
966 (66.9%) | †Robert Alexander Fletcher | UP  | 412
Jonah William White  | Lab  | 234
MAZOE
891 (64.8%) | †Edward Walter Lionel Noaks | UP  | 467
Alexander Macintyre Hutchinson  | Ref  | 110
QUE QUE
793 (71.6%) | †Charles Walter Leppington | UP  | 290
Edward Empson Webb  | Lab  | 243
John William Watkinson  | Ref  | 35
RAYLTON
1,243 (70.7%) | †Lawrence John Walter Keller | Lab  | 440
William Hives Eastwood  | UP  | 439
SALISBURY CENTRAL
Two members
2,257 (66.6%) | †Jacob Hendrik Smit | UP  | 1,125
Robert Thomson Anderson | UP  | 848
James Kerr Taylor  | Lab  | 335
Roger Edward Downes  | Lab  | 315
Charles Olley  | Ref  | 245
†Neil Housman Wilson | Ref  | 204
SALISBURY DISTRICT
966 (76.4%) | †Godfrey Huggins | UP  | 519
† Thomas Nangle | Ref  | 219
SALISBURY NORTH
Two members
2,016 (69.7%) | Vernon Arthur Lewis | UP  | 1,208
†Percival Donald Leslie Fynn | UP  | 1,198
William Lane Mitchell  | Ref  | 233
William Martin  | Lab  | 172
SALISBURY SOUTH
1,240 (71.5%) | †George Henry Walker | Lab  | 435
Alexander Daniel Kirstein  | UP  | 350
Mrs. Otilia Liebermann  | Ref  | 101
SELUKWE
818 (68.7%) | †Robert Dunipace Gilchrist | UP  | 416
Ernest Edward Fitzroy Blackwell  | Ref  | 146
UMTALI NORTH
864 (66.9%) | †Donald Murray Somerville | UP  | 429
Albert Holman  | Lab  | 149
UMTALI SOUTH
761 (75.7%) | †Jonathan Hunter Malcolm | Lab  | 329
Edgar Cuthbert Fremantle Whitehead | UP  | 247
VICTORIA
943 (76.6%) | †William Alexander Eustace Winterton | UP  | 641
John Davidson  | Ref  | 81
WANKIE
689 (57.9%) | †Alexander Robert Thomson | UP  | 258
William McDonald  | Lab  | 141

## Byelections[edit]

### Hartley[edit]

James Joseph Conway died on 10 May 1935, leading to a byelection on 4 July 1935.

Constituency  | Candidate  | Party  | Votes

|
|
|

HARTLEY | Roger Edward Downes | Ref  | 202
Charles Malcolm Davenport  | UP  | 146
Thomas Alfred Kimble  | Lab  | 79

### Selukwe[edit]

Robert Dunipace Gilchrist resigned on 30 June 1935, leading to a byelection on 28 August 1935.

Constituency  | Candidate  | Party  | Votes

|
|
|

SELUKWE | Max Danziger | UP  | 353
Henry Frederick Edensor  | Ref  | 182
Ernest Millington  | Ind UP  | 117

### Umtali South[edit]

Following his death, there was a byelection to replace Jonathan Hunter Malcolm on 15 September 1936.

Constituency
Electorate and turnout | Candidate  | Party  | Votes

|
|
|

UMTALI SOUTH
800 (62.0%) | James Brown Lister | Lab  | 244
Edgar Cuthbert Fremantle Whitehead | UP  | 153
William Arthur Rail  | Ref  | 99

### Salisbury North[edit]

Following his resignation on 31 July 1936, there was a byelection to replace Vernon Arthur Lewis on 21 September 1936.

Constituency
Electorate and turnout | Candidate  | Party  | Votes

|
|
|

SALISBURY NORTH
2,035 (54.9%) | Harry Bertin | UP  | 595
John Richard Dendy Young | Ref  | 522

### Eastern[edit]

John Louis Martin died on 28 May 1938 and a byelection to replace him was held on 15 August 1938.

Constituency
Electorate and turnout | Candidate  | Party  | Votes

|
|
|

EASTERN
751 (81.4%) | Jacobus Petrus De Kock | UP  | 222
Douglas Abrahamson  | UNP  | 160
Reginald Herbert Bruce Dickson  | Ref  | 150
Roelof Hendrik Venter  | Lab  | 79

### Hartley[edit]

Following his death, there was a byelection to replace Roger Edward Downes on 30 August 1938.

Constituency
Electorate and turnout | Candidate  | Party  | Votes

|
|
|

HARTLEY
584 (76.7%) | Henry Hamilton Beamish | Ind  | 144
Thomas James Golding  | RP  | 125
Leslie Manfred Noel Hodson  | UP  | 118
Thomas George Gibson  | Ref  | 61

## References[edit]

* 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)

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