1939 Southern Rhodesian general election

1939 Southern Rhodesian general election

14 April 1939 (1939-04-14)
All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly 16 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Godfrey Huggins Harry Davies Party United Labour Last election 24 seats 5 seats Seats won 23 7 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 11,161 7,353 Percentage 50.37% 33.18%
Prime Minister before election Godfrey Huggins United Elected Prime Minister Godfrey Huggins United

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

Electoral system

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.

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.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	United Party	11,161	50.37	23	–1
	Rhodesia Labour Party	7,353	33.18	7	+2
	Reform Party	2,773	12.51	0	–1
	Union Party	380	1.71	0	New
	Independents	492	2.22	0	New
Total		22,159	100.00	30	0
Registered voters/turnout		28,032	–
Source: Willson

By constituency

Avondale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Harry Bertin	571		N/A
	Labour	Colin Ross McLachlan	217		N/A
Majority			354		N/A
Turnout			962	82.9	N/A
	United win (new seat)

Bulawayo Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	William Hives Eastwood	393
	Reform	James Cowden	272
	Labour	Philip Harvey Veale	251
Majority
Turnout			1,116	82.1
	United win (new seat)

Bulawayo East

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	John Banks Brady	639
	Reform	Donald MacGillivray	227
Majority
Turnout			1,025	84.5
	United win (new seat)

Bulawayo North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Hugh Beadle	461
	Reform	Charles Edward Harrison	243
	Labour	William John Phelps	165
Majority
Turnout			1,023	84.9
	United win (new seat)

Bulawayo South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Donald MacIntyre	534
	United	Robert Woodward Hammond	461
Majority
Turnout			1,279	77.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Charter

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Ernest Lucas Guest	355
	Union Party	Johan Christoffel Kruger	181
	Labour	Henry Stephen Sharp	151
Majority
Turnout			838	82.3
	United hold		Swing

Eastern

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Jacobus Petrus De Kock	399
	Union Party	Douglas Abrahamson	199
	Labour	Reginald Herbert Bruce Dickson	182
Majority
Turnout			1,004	77.7
	United hold		Swing

Gatooma

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Alfred Kimble	416
	United	James Dalton	293
	Reform	Thomas James Golding	173
Majority
Turnout			1,031	85.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Gwanda

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Frank Ernest Harris	381
	Reform	David Wood Young	216
Majority
Turnout			839	71.2
	United gain from Reform		Swing

Gwelo

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Frank Delano Thompson	326
	Reform	Robert Williamson	243
	Labour	William John Bassett	184
Majority
Turnout			954	78.9
	United hold		Swing

Hartley

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Hugh Volant Wheeler	264
	Reform	William Muter Leggate	215
	Independent	Henry Hamilton Beamish	196
	Labour	John Allen	121
Majority
Turnout			969	82.1
	United gain from Independent		Swing

Highlands

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Leslie Benjamin Fereday	447
	Labour	William Frith Wilson	267
	Reform	John Arthur Douglas Hawksley	68
Majority
Turnout			953	82.1
	United win (new seat)

Hillside

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Davies	544
	United	George Victor Wallace	329
Majority
Turnout			1,017	85.8
	Labour win (new seat)

Insiza

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Robert Clarkson Tredgold	335
	Labour	James Turner Durward	198
	Reform	Leo George Robinson	116
Majority
Turnout			887	73.2
	United hold		Swing

Lomagudi

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Lewis Aloys MacDonald Hastings	393
	Labour	Otilia Liebermann	142
Majority
Turnout			834	64.1
	United hold		Swing

Marandellas

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	William Henry Ralston	366
	Labour	Alexander Aitken Draper	148
	Reform	Alfred William Vincent Crawley	147
Majority
Turnout			891	74.2
	United hold		Swing

Mazoe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Edward Walter Lionel Noaks	402
	Labour	Jack Herbert Keightley	139
	Reform	James Murdoch Eaton	75
	Independent	Mark Douglas Claxton	73
Majority
Turnout			873	78.9
	United hold		Swing

Que Que

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Charles Walter Leppington	434
	Labour	de Lacey Henry Stowe	422
Majority
Turnout			1,072	79.9
	United hold		Swing

Raylton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lawrence John Walter Keller	559
	United	Charles Spencer	210
Majority
Turnout			954	80.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Salisbury Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Edgar Pope Vernall	408
	Labour	Gladys Maasdorp	288
	Reform	George Harry Stone	139
Majority
Turnout			1,089	76.4
	United win (new seat)

Salisbury City

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Jacob Hendrik Smit	519
	Labour	Alec Pelham	276
Majority
Turnout			1,012	78.6
	United win (new seat)

Salisbury Gardens

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Sir Percival Donald Leslie Fynn	410
	Reform	Lancelot Middleton Foggin	155
	Labour	Rex Atherton Rawstorne	111
Majority
Turnout			966	76.4
	United win (new seat)

Salisbury North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Godfrey Huggins	unopposed
Majority			862
Turnout
	United win (new seat)

Salisbury South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Henry Walker	546
	United	Heiman Joseph Hoffman	283
Majority
Turnout			1,049	79.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Selukwe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Max Danziger	410
	Reform	Ernest Millington	321
Majority
Turnout			954	76.6
	United hold		Swing

Umtali North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Edgar Whitehead	498
	Labour	Thomas Norris	209
Majority
Turnout			844	83.8
	United hold		Swing

Untali South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Brown Lister	401
	Independent	Matthew Henry Gibson	223
Majority			820	76.
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Victoria

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	William Alexander Eustace Winterton	497
	Labour	Robert Joseph Austin	286
Majority
Turnout			1104	77.2
	United hold		Swing

Wankie

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Allan Watson Whittington	346
	United	Cyril Mainwaring Newman	311
	Reform	Henry Robert Barbour	73
Majority
Turnout			1,000	73.0
	Labour gain from United		Swing

Western

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Patrick Bissett Fletcher	366
	Labour	Albert James Davies	247
	Reform	Wilfred Denton Estment	93
Majority
Turnout			894	79.0
	United win (new seat)

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

Sources

• 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)