1934 Southern Rhodesian general election

General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 7 November 1934, fourth elections since the colony of Southern Rhodesia was granted self-government. The elections were called only a year after the previous elections 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.

Electoral system

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

Political parties

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.

Results

By constituency

Lab – Rhodesia Labour Party
Ref – Reform Party
UP – United Party

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
BULAWAYO CENTRAL Two members 2,018	†James Cowden	UP	683
BULAWAYO CENTRAL Two members 2,018	†Donald MacIntyre	Lab	654
BULAWAYO CENTRAL Two members 2,018	Arthur James Butler	UP	604
BULAWAYO CENTRAL Two members 2,018	Edward Jonathan Davies	Lab	536
BULAWAYO NORTH Two members 1,989	†John Banks Brady	UP	967
BULAWAYO NORTH Two members 1,989	†Allan Ross Welsh	UP	910
BULAWAYO NORTH Two members 1,989	David Bennie	Lab	421
BULAWAYO NORTH Two members 1,989	Frederick Martin	Lab	291
BULAWAYO SOUTH 1,257	†Harry Herbert Davies	Lab	458
BULAWAYO SOUTH 1,257	Hugh Beadle	UP	430
CHARTER 623	†Ernest Lucas Guest	UP	unopposed
EASTERN 886	†John Louis Martin	UP	unopposed
GATOOMA 842	†William Sydney Senior	UP	366
GATOOMA 842	Thomas Alfred Kimble	Lab	285
GWANDA 677	†Sir Hugh Grenville Williams	Ref	257
GWANDA 677	Herbert Hildeyard Phillips	UP	218
GWELO 1,048	†Frank Delano Thompson	UP	377
GWELO 1,048	Albert Hill	Lab	285
HARTLEY 571	James Joseph Conway	UP	256
HARTLEY 571	Arthur Bertram Shepherd-Cross	Ref	117
HARTLEY 571	Christopher Holderness	Lab	81
INSIZA 644	Robert Clarkson Tredgold	UP	273
INSIZA 644	Leo George Robinson	Lab	110
INSIZA 644	Joseph Hussey	Ref	67
INYATI 756	Frank Ernest Harris	UP	334
INYATI 756	John Bazeley	Lab	178
LOMAGUNDI 818	†Lewis Aloys MacDonald Hastings	UP	365
LOMAGUNDI 818	Frank Smith	Ref	197
MARANDELLAS 812	Alfred William Vincent Crawley	UP	251
MARANDELLAS 812	†Reginald Herbert Bruce Dickson	Ref	225
MATOPO 966	†Robert Alexander Fletcher	UP	412
MATOPO 966	Jonah William White	Lab	234
MAZOE 891	†Edward Walter Lionel Noaks	UP	467
MAZOE 891	Alexander Macintyre Hutchinson	Ref	110
QUE QUE 793	†Charles Walter Leppington	UP	290
QUE QUE 793	Edward Empson Webb	Lab	243
QUE QUE 793	John William Watkinson	Ref	35
RAYLTON 1,243	†Lawrence John Walter Keller	Lab	440
RAYLTON 1,243	William Hives Eastwood	UP	439
SALISBURY CENTRAL Two members 2,257	†Jacob Hendrik Smit	UP	1,125
SALISBURY CENTRAL Two members 2,257	Robert Thomson Anderson	UP	848
SALISBURY CENTRAL Two members 2,257	James Kerr Taylor	Lab	335
SALISBURY CENTRAL Two members 2,257	Roger Edward Downes	Lab	315
SALISBURY CENTRAL Two members 2,257	Charles Olley	Ref	245
SALISBURY CENTRAL Two members 2,257	†Neil Housman Wilson	Ref	204
SALISBURY DISTRICT 966	†Godfrey Huggins	UP	519
SALISBURY DISTRICT 966	† Thomas Nangle	Ref	219
SALISBURY NORTH Two members 2,016	Vernon Arthur Lewis	UP	1,208
SALISBURY NORTH Two members 2,016	†Percival Donald Leslie Fynn	UP	1,198
SALISBURY NORTH Two members 2,016	William Lane Mitchell	Ref	233
SALISBURY NORTH Two members 2,016	William Martin	Lab	172
SALISBURY SOUTH 1,240	†George Henry Walker	Lab	435
SALISBURY SOUTH 1,240	Alexander Daniel Kirstein	UP	350
SALISBURY SOUTH 1,240	Mrs. Otilia Liebermann	Ref	101
SELUKWE 818	†Robert Dunipace Gilchrist	UP	416
SELUKWE 818	Ernest Edward Fitzroy Blackwell	Ref	146
UMTALI NORTH 864	†Donald Murray Somerville	UP	429
UMTALI NORTH 864	Albert Holman	Lab	149
UMTALI SOUTH 761	†Jonathan Hunter Malcolm	Lab	329
UMTALI SOUTH 761	Edgar Cuthbert Fremantle Whitehead	UP	247
VICTORIA 943	†William Alexander Eustace Winterton	UP	641
VICTORIA 943	John Davidson	Ref	81
WANKIE 689	†Alexander Robert Thomson	UP	258
WANKIE 689	William McDonald	Lab	141
WANKIE 689	-	-	-

Byelections

Hartley

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

Constituency	Candidate	Party	Votes
HARTLEY	Roger Edward Downes	Ref	202
HARTLEY	Charles Malcolm Davenport	UP	146
HARTLEY	Thomas Alfred Kimble	Lab	79

Selukwe

Robert Dunipace Gilchrist resigned on 30 June 1935, leading to a byelection on 28 August 1935.

Constituency	Candidate	Party	Votes
SELUKWE	Max Danziger	UP	353
SELUKWE	Henry Frederick Edensor	Ref	182
SELUKWE	Ernest Millington	Ind UP	117

Umtali South

Following his death, there was a byelection to replace Jonathan Hunter Malcolm on 15 September 1936.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
UMTALI SOUTH 800	James Brown Lister	Lab	244
UMTALI SOUTH 800	Edgar Cuthbert Fremantle Whitehead	UP	153
UMTALI SOUTH 800	William Arthur Rail	Ref	99

Salisbury North

Following his resignation on 31 July 1936, there was a byelection to replace Vernon Arthur Lewis on 21 September 1936.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
SALISBURY NORTH 2,035	Harry Bertin	UP	595
SALISBURY NORTH 2,035	John Richard Dendy Young	Ref	522
SALISBURY NORTH 2,035	-	-	-

Eastern

John Louis Martin died on 28 May 1938 and a byelection to replace him was held on 15 August 1938.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
EASTERN 751	Jacobus Petrus De Kock	UP	222
EASTERN 751	Douglas Abrahamson	UNP	160
EASTERN 751	Reginald Herbert Bruce Dickson	Ref	150
EASTERN 751	Roelof Hendrik Venter	Lab	79

Hartley

Following his death, there was a byelection to replace Roger Edward Downes on 30 August 1938.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
HARTLEY 584	Henry Hamilton Beamish	Ind	144
HARTLEY 584	Thomas James Golding	RP	125
HARTLEY 584	Leslie Manfred Noel Hodson	UP	118
HARTLEY 584	Thomas George Gibson	Ref	61