Southern Rhodesia general election, 1934

Southern Rhodesian general election, 1934

← 1933

November 7, 1934 (1934-11-07)

1939 →

All 30 seats to 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, 17.5%	16 seats, 37.9%
Seats before		5	16
Seats won	24	5	1
Seat change	24		15
Popular vote	11,076	4,816	2,012
Percentage	61.9%	26.9%	11.2%
Swing	new party	9.4%	26.7%

Prime Minister before election

Godfrey Huggins
United Party

Elected Prime Minister

Godfrey Huggins
United Party

The Southern Rhodesia general election of 7 November 1934 was the fourth election since the colony of Southern Rhodesia was granted self-government. The election was called only a year after the previous election 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.

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

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.

Electorate: 27,388 (in contested seats, 25,879) Turnout: 64.6%

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

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