Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia

Prime Minister of Rhodesia
Flag of the Prime Minister of Rhodesia (1970–79)
Style	The Right Honourable
Appointer	Governor of Southern Rhodesia (1923–70) President of Rhodesia (1970–79)
Formation	1 October 1923
First holder	Charles Coghlan
Final holder	Ian Smith
Abolished	1 June 1979
Succession	Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia

The Prime Minister of Rhodesia (before 1964, of Southern Rhodesia) was the head of government in Rhodesia. Rhodesia, which became a self-governing colony of Britain in 1923, unilaterally declared independence on 11 November 1965, and was thereafter an unrecognized state in practice until 1979. In December 1979, the country came under temporary British control, and in April 1980 the country gained recognized independence as Zimbabwe.

Rhodesia's political system was modeled on the Westminster system, and the Prime Minister's role was similar to that of the same position in other countries with similar constitutional histories – Canada, for example, or Australia.

The British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia—simply Rhodesia from October 1964—was created on 1 October 1923, from land previously governed by the British South Africa Company. The British government annexed the land, then immediately sold it to the newly formed responsible government of Southern Rhodesia for £2 million.

From 1953 to 1963, Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland—equivalent to today's Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, respectively—were joined in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation. Sir Godfrey Huggins served as Federal Prime Minister from 1953 to 1956, then Sir Roy Welensky held the post until the end of Federation on 31 December 1963. When Northern Rhodesia gained independence as Zambia on 24 October 1964, Southern Rhodesia began to refer to itself simply as "Rhodesia".