1946 Southern Rhodesian general election

General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 25 April 1946, seven years after the previous elections in 1939, the term of the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly having been extended so that there would be no general elections during World War II. The elections showed a strong shift to the right, as the United Party government led by Prime Minister Godfrey Huggins lost its overall majority; however, Huggins could count on the support of one of the factions of the Rhodesia Labour Party in any vote of confidence and therefore remained in office.

Electoral system

During the war a number of changes to the franchise had been made. The arrival of large numbers of British subjects to train as pilots for the Royal Air Force from 1940 led to a sudden increase in the electorate. Many Rhodesians felt that the forces personnel ought not to have the vote, given that their presence in Rhodesia was transitory and they had no long-term commitment. Therefore, the Assembly passed the Electoral Amendment Act 1941 which disfranchised them. The Act also disfranchised British subjects from other dominions who were not prepared to make a declaration of willingness to serve in Southern Rhodesia's defence forces. A third provision of the Act was to extend a previous lifetime disqualification of those sentenced to imprisonment to those given suspended prison sentences.
In the Civil Disabilities Act 1942, anyone convicted of treasonable or seditious practices, those who had deserted from or evaded service in the Army, or who were cashiered or dishonourably discharged, was disqualified from registration as a voter. To cope with the large number of Rhodesians serving away from the colony in the armed forces, the Active Service Voters Act 1943 permitted them to record their votes in a general election. They were permitted to vote for a political party rather than an individual candidate.
There were no alterations to the boundaries of the electoral districts.

Political parties

Jacob Smit, who had been an ally of Huggins in Reform Party days and previously served at the Ministry of Finance, went into opposition early in 1944. He joined a group of conservatives who were developing a new political party on the principles of economy in public spending, free enterprise, and seeking dominion status within the British Empire. Smit was soon appointed the Leader of this group, which named itself the Southern Rhodesia Liberal Party.

Results

By constituency

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
AVONDALE 1,632	Albert Rubidge Washington Stumbles	L	567
AVONDALE 1,632	Cecil Douglas Dryden	UP	488
AVONDALE 1,632	Neil Housman Wilson	Ind	77
AVONDALE 1,632	Alexander Aitken Draper	SR Lab	57
AVONDALE 1,632	George Arthur Henry Radford	Lab	41
BULAWAYO CENTRAL 1,644	†Donald MacIntyre	SR Lab	353
BULAWAYO CENTRAL 1,644	Henry Alfred Holmes	UP	327
BULAWAYO CENTRAL 1,644	Mathew Henry Gibson	Lab	242
BULAWAYO CENTRAL 1,644	Olive Hope Robertson	L	127
BULAWAYO EAST 1,231	David Wood Young	UP	632
BULAWAYO EAST 1,231	Llewellyn Davies	L	239
BULAWAYO NORTH 1,407	†Thomas Hugh William Beadle	UP	666
BULAWAYO NORTH 1,407	Cecil Maurice Baker	Lab	196
BULAWAYO SOUTH 1,949	James Stuart McNeillie	Lab	518
BULAWAYO SOUTH 1,949	Malcolm Granger Fleming	UP	425
BULAWAYO SOUTH 1,949	Theodore Albert Edward Holdengarde	L	185
BULAWAYO SOUTH 1,949	Arthur Harold Bean	SR Lab	71
CHARTER 1,051	Jacob Letterstedt Smit	L	360
CHARTER 1,051	Herbert Jordan Posselt	UP	304
CHARTER 1,051	Mrs. Louise Hosea Fourie	Lab	122
EASTERN 1,247	Aubrey William Dunn	L	490
EASTERN 1,247	†Jacobus Petrus De Kock	UP	398
GATOOMA 1,175	George Munro	L	287
GATOOMA 1,175	William George Vowles	UP	243
GATOOMA 1,175	Arthur Henry Edwin Haycock	Lab	198
GWANDA 1,113	William Henry Elliott	UP	292
GWANDA 1,113	George Wilburn Rudland	L	287
GWANDA 1,113	Edwin Harley	Lab	170
GWELO 1,405	Robert Williamson	L	441
GWELO 1,405	†Max Danziger	UP	385
GWELO 1,405	Harry Joseph Filmer	Lab	166
HARTLEY 1,360	Thomas James Golding	L	487
HARTLEY 1,360	†Hugh Volant Wheeler	UP	446
HIGHLANDS 1,951	Charles Arden Bott	L	757
HIGHLANDS 1,951	†Leslie Benjamin Fereday	UP	595
HIGHLANDS 1,951	Charles Findlay	Lab	124
HILLSIDE 1,690	†Harry Herbert Davies	Lab	673
HILLSIDE 1,690	Eric Tom Hepburn	UP	438
HILLSIDE 1,690	John Wilfred Bush	L	88
INSIZA 1,165	Reginald Stephen Garfield Todd	UP	330
INSIZA 1,165	Victor Henry van Breda	Lab	195
INSIZA 1,165	Guy Maxwell Foy Southey	L	190
LOMAGUNDI 1,128	Patrick Archibald Wise	L	374
LOMAGUNDI 1,128	† George Henry Hackwill	UP	372
MARANDELLAS 1,292	Leslie Major Cullinan	UP	476
MARANDELLAS 1,292	William Thomas Edward Fitzsimons	L	340
MARANDELLAS 1,292	Edward Bostock Harben	SR Lab	140
MAZOE 918	†Edward Walter Lionel Noaks	UP	360
MAZOE 918	Jack Herbert Keightley	L	213
MAZOE 918	William Ramsay Ramsay	SR Lab	18
QUE QUE 1,361	George Arthur Davenport	UP	377
QUE QUE 1,361	John Henry Cremer	L	257
QUE QUE 1,361	Thomas Nangle	Lab	246
RAYLTON 1,613	†Lawrence John Walter Keller	Lab	470
RAYLTON 1,613	Kenneth Mackenzie Goodenough	UP	360
RAYLTON 1,613	Barend Gerhardus Retief	SR Lab	183
RAYLTON 1,613	David Graham Johnstone	L	71
SALISBURY CENTRAL 1,470	Leslie Manfred Noel Hodson	UP	438
SALISBURY CENTRAL 1,470	Ronald Leo Thomas	L	224
SALISBURY CENTRAL 1,470	Charles Olley	Ind	191
SALISBURY CENTRAL 1,470	†Edgar Pope Vernall	Lab	73
SALISBURY CENTRAL 1,470	Mrs. Agnes Tait Wilson	Ind	7
SALISBURY CITY 1,683	†Jacob Hendrik Smit	L	565
SALISBURY CITY 1,683	Robert Wynne Truscott	UP	352
SALISBURY CITY 1,683	Arthur Tom North	Lab	115
SALISBURY CITY 1,683	Mrs. Gladys Maasdorp	SR Lab	91
SALISBURY GARDENS 1,408	Sir Ernest Lucas Guest	UP	472
SALISBURY GARDENS 1,408	David Keith Watt	L	390
SALISBURY GARDENS 1,408	Ernest Roy Wright	SR Lab	39
SALISBURY GARDENS 1,408	Edwin Robert Wilson Major	Lab	34
SALISBURY NORTH 1,199	†Godfrey Martin Huggins	UP	525
SALISBURY NORTH 1,199	Eric Kenneth Hockey	L	265
SALISBURY NORTH 1,199	David Heurtley Linton	Ind	23
SALISBURY SOUTH 1,741	Denzil Crichton Paul	L	453
SALISBURY SOUTH 1,741	†George Henry Walker	Lab	338
SALISBURY SOUTH 1,741	Mrs. Muriel Ena Rosin	UP	295
SALISBURY SOUTH 1,741	Mrs. Otilia Liebermann	Ind	52
SELUKWE 1,237	George Baden-Powell Tunmer	L	421
SELUKWE 1,237	Egon Aage Klifborg	Lab	232
SELUKWE 1,237	Charles William Fenton Wells	UP	188
UMTALI NORTH 1,036	†Tom Ian Findlay Wilson	UP	413
UMTALI NORTH 1,036	Harry Thomas Fairbridge Went	SR Lab	129
UMTALI NORTH 1,036	Christopher Henry Perrem	L	96
UMTALI NORTH 1,036	Roelof Hendrik Venter	Lab	45
UMTALI SOUTH 1,181	†James Brown Lister	SR Lab	421
UMTALI SOUTH 1,181	Edgar Cuthbert Fremantle Whitehead	UP	331
UMTALI SOUTH 1,181	George Cyril Hamilton-Browne	L	68
UMTALI SOUTH 1,181	Hajo Spandow	Lab	17
VICTORIA 1,333	Raymond Osborne Stockil	L	522
VICTORIA 1,333	†William Alexander Eustace Winterton	UP	342
VICTORIA 1,333	John Theodore Appel	Lab	40
WANKIE 1,125	John Alexander Ewing	UP	200
WANKIE 1,125	†Allan Watson Whittington	Lab	197
WANKIE 1,125	Benjamin Austen Williams	L	123
WESTERN 1,198	†Patrick Bissett Fletcher	UP	395
WESTERN 1,198	Frederick William Sauerman	L	154
WESTERN 1,198	Francis Edward John Patrick Murray	Lab	131
WESTERN 1,198	Frank Richard Peach	Ind	74
WESTERN 1,198	Martin Olds	SR Lab	38

Changes during the Assembly

Lomagundi

On 15 July 1946 an election petition from George Henry Hackwill in relation to the Lomagundi district was allowed. As a result, Patrick Archibald Wise was unseated, and Hackwill was declared elected.

Umtali North

Tom Ian Findlay Wilson resigned from the Assembly in September 1946. A byelection was held to replace him on 8 November 1946.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
UMTALI NORTH 800	Edgar Cuthbert Fremantle Whitehead	UP	427
UMTALI NORTH 800	Christopher Henry Perrem	L	207

Hartley

Thomas James Golding died on 2 August 1947. A byelection was held in his constituency on 26 September 1947.

Constituency Electorate and turnout	Candidate	Party	Votes
HARTLEY 943	Patrick Archibald Wise	L	543
HARTLEY 943	Ralph Drew Palmer	UP	294