1924 Southern Rhodesian general election

General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 29 April 1924, the first elections to the new Legislative Assembly following the granting of responsible government to the colony. The result was a comprehensive victory for the Rhodesia Party, which had been formed by the supporters of responsible government, who won 26 out of the 30 seats.

1924 Southern Rhodesian general election

29 April 1924
All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly 16 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Charles Coghlan Lawrence John Walter Keller Party Rhodesia Party Labour Leader since 1923 1923 Leader's seat Bulawayo North Bulawayo South (Unelected) Seats won 26 0 Popular vote 13,987 3,527 Percentage 58.33% 14.71%
Premier before election Charles Coghlan Rhodesia Party Subsequent Premier Charles Coghlan Rhodesia Party

Electoral system

No change was made to the basic electoral procedure which continued to be the single non-transferable vote, or First past the post system, cast by means of the secret ballot.

The Letters Patent granting the colony the right to self-government in 1923 made no change to the pre-existing franchise. The law provided that voters must have been resident in Southern Rhodesia for at least six months, and have the ability to complete the claim form for the electoral register in their own handwriting if the registrar required, and to write from dictation 50 words in the English language. In addition, voters had to meet one of three criteria for their financial means: either occupy property worth £150 in their Electoral District, or own a registered mining claim within the colony (for which residence was not required), or receive annual salary of £100 in the colony.

The Letters Patent created a legislative assembly with 30 members, and for simplicity the 15 electoral districts set the previous year for the Legislative Council were used for the new assembly, but with each district returning two members. Voters were therefore entitled to two votes.

Political parties

Since the previous election, and the grant of responsible government, the Responsible Government Association had organised itself under the leadership of Sir Charles Coghlan into the Rhodesia Party and been appointed as the new government. In addition the Rhodesia Labour Party, which had been formed some years before, entered into the election. However a substantial number of candidates fought as Independents on their own record. In general these candidates represented small farmers, small businesses and mining interests.

Campaign

The Labour Party had supported the Responsible Government Association in its campaign for a separate government for the colony, and in opposition to union with South Africa, and members of both parties hoped to reach agreement on an allocation of seats between them so that they did not oppose each other. Negotiations were unsuccessful and where candidates of the parties were fighting for seats, the fight between them became bitter. The independent candidates were also in opposition to the 'establishment' party and many stressed the need for a strong opposition in the new Assembly.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Rhodesia Party	13,987	58.33	26
	Rhodesia Labour Party	3,527	14.71	0
	Independents	6,466	26.96	4
Total		23,980	100.00	30
Valid votes		11,990	98.46
Invalid/blank votes		187	1.54
Total votes		12,177	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		20,060	60.70
Source: Willson

By constituency

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
BULAWAYO CENTRAL 1,493 (54.8%)	†Francis Leslie Hadfield	RP	420
	James Cowden	RP	397
	Septimus Leonard John Steggall	Lab	249
	Harry Joseph Sonnenberg	Ind	217
	William George Durbin Morsman	Lab	194
	Frederick Fisher	Ind	159
BULAWAYO DISTRICT 1,253 (62.3%)	Frederic Philip Mennell	RP	499
	Alexander Robert Thomson	RP	492
	Harry Herbert Davies	Lab	335
	George Walter Price	Lab	234
BULAWAYO NORTH 1,490 (62.9%)	†Sir Charles Patrick John Coghlan	RP	830
	Robert James Hudson	RP	771
	William Davies	Lab	274
BULAWAYO SOUTH 1,486 (69.0%)	Charles Folliot Birney	RP	631
	Henry Robert Barbour	RP	469
	Lawrence John Walter Keller	Lab	408
	George Mitchell	Ind	303
	Robert John Dent	Lab	241
EASTERN 1,617 (64.2%)	Charles Edward Gilfillan	Ind	590
	John Louis Martin	Ind	576
	Lewis Aloys MacDonald Hastings	RP	552
	William Matthias Longden	RP	359
GWELO 1,456 (66.0%)	David Campbell Duncan Munro	RP	572
	Max Danziger	RP	527
	John Charles Jesser Coope	Ind	401
	James Henry Edwards	Ind	257
	James White Ross	Lab	165
HARTLEY 1,519 (58.2%)	Sir Ernest William Sanders Montagu	Ind	426
	Osmond Charteris Du Port	RP	422
	Richard Wright Albertson	Ind	379
	Burton Ireland Collings	RP	275
	Robert Hawker Futter	Ind	267
MAZOE 1,351 (50.4%)	Sir Francis James Newton	RP	624
	John Wallace Downie	RP	579
	William Martin	Lab	159
MIDLANDS 1,321 (70.6%)	†Robert Dunipace Gilchrist	RP	415
	†William James Boggie	RP	307
	John Austen	Ind	307
	Henry Tyndall Brett	Ind	260
	William Harrison	Lab	184
	Miss Ellen Constance Steedman	Ind	150
	†Walter Douglas Douglas-Jones	Ind	130
	George Alexander Campbell	Lab	111
NORTHERN 1,387 (54.7%)	†William Muter Leggate	RP	612
	James Murdoch Eaton	RP	608
	†John McChlery	Ind	296
SALISBURY NORTH 1,876	Percival Donald Leslie Fynn	RP	unopposed
	Godfrey Martin Huggins	RP	unopposed
SALISBURY SOUTH 1,454 (58.1%)	Harry Bertin	RP	595
	George Frederick Elcombe	RP	433
	Milton Evan Cleveland	Ind	329
	George Harold Johnson	Ind	208
	Albert Edward Wetherill	Lab	125
UMTALI 1,598 (60.1%)	Charles Eickhoff	RP	506
	†Mrs. Ethel Tawse Jollie	RP	404
	William Robb Love	Lab	378
	James Allin Methuen	Lab	299
	Francis Rudolph Myburgh	Ind	206
	Thomas Benjamin Hulley	Ind	130
VICTORIA 1,353 (52.0%)	†Howard Unwin Moffat	RP	539
	Lucius Knapp Robinson	RP	469
	John Albert Halliday	Ind	399
WESTERN 1,282 (51.8%)	†Robert Alexander Fletcher	Ind	476
	John Parke Richardson	RP	375
	William Elliot Thomas	RP	306
	William Edward Green	Lab	171

Note: As the Midlands result was a tie between Boggie and Austen, the election was determined by a drawing of lots, which was supervised by a Judge of the High Court, on 15 May 1924.

Changes during the Assembly

Mazoe

Sir Francis Newton resigned on 26 August 1924 on appointment as High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Southern Rhodesia, precipitating a byelection in his electoral district which was held on 26 September 1924.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
MAZOE 1,351 (53.6%)	Percy Sidney Inskipp	RP	394
	John William Dunlop	Ind RP	330

Salisbury South

George Elcombe resigned his seat on 10 January 1927 and a byelection was held on 8 March 1927.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
SALISBURY SOUTH 1,454 (64.9%)	Frank William Frederick Johnson	Ind	406
	John William Dunlop	Lab	362
	Burton Ireland Collings	RP	175

Bulawayo North

Sir Charles Coghlan died on 28 August 1927 and a byelection was held on 18 November 1927.

Constituency	Candidate	Party	Votes
BULAWAYO NORTH	Allan Ross Welsh	RP	549
	Edward Jonathan Davies	Lab	377

Midlands

William James Boggie died on 8 February 1928 and a byelection was held on 18 April 1928.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
MIDLANDS 1,374 (47.5%)	Arthur James Taylor	RP	352
	Alexander Louis Wynand Koch Worsthorne	PP	301

Defections

There were a number of changes within the assembly. Robert Dunipace Gilchrist 'crossed the floor' to sit as an opposition Independent in 1925. He was followed in May 1927 by Francis Leslie Hadfield and Max Danziger. In June 1927, the Progressive Party was formed by Harry Bertin, Robert Alexander Fletcher, Robert Dunipace Gilchrist, George Edward Gilfillan, Francis Leslie Hadfield, Frank William Frederick Johnson, John Louis Martin, Frederic Philip Mennell and Sir Ernest William Sanders Montagu. This party campaigned for a pro-white immigration policy, the development of Matabeleland, and establishing African reserves. It was opposed to monopolies, and sought reform and depoliticisation of the Civil Service.

References

• 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)