Zimbabwean parliamentary election, 1985

1980 ←

1–2 July 1985 (Common Roll)
27 June 1985 (White Roll)

→ 1990

All 100 seats in the House of Assembly

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Robert Mugabe	Joshua Nkomo	Ian Smith
Party	ZANU-PF	ZAPU	CAZ
Leader's seat	Highfield	Magwegwe	Bulawayo Central
Last election	57 (Common Roll)	20 (Common Roll)	20 (White Roll)
Seats won	64 (Common Roll)	15 (Common Roll)	15 (White Roll)
Seat change	7	5	5
Popular vote	2,233,320 (Common Roll)	556,996 (Common Roll)	18,704 (White Roll)
Percentage	77.2% (Common Roll)	19.3% (Common Roll)	55.4% (White Roll)

Prime Minister before election

Robert Mugabe
ZANU-PF

Prime Minister-designate

Robert Mugabe
ZANU-PF

The Zimbabwe parliamentary election of 1985 saw the re-election, with an increased majority, of the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front government under Robert Mugabe which had first been elected five years previously prior to the country achieving independence. It was thus the first time a general election in Zimbabwe had been conducted under the administration of that country's authorities.

The previous election had shown that ZANU (PF) had monopolised popular support among the Shona areas, and the chances of it losing the election were minimal. However, ZANU (PF) needed to affirm its support and demonstrate that it retained the confidence of the people that it was making genuine progress. Popular support for PF-ZAPU, outside the Ndebele areas, was minimal, and the United African National Council of Abel Muzorewa had lost support to ZANU (PF) following the effective transition into government of Robert Mugabe.

The white MPs in the previous Assembly, who had all started off as members of the Rhodesian Front (later renamed the Republican Front), had split over their reaction to the ZANU (PF) government with more than half resigning their membership in March 1982 to become Independents who partially supported ZANU (PF). Eventually, in April 1985, the Independent Zimbabwe Group was formed in preparation for the election. Generally, whites in Harare and Bulawayo had little complaint about the conduct of government, having seen little change in their lifestyles.

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