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{{Politics of Zambia}}General elections were held in Northern Rhodesia on 20 March 1959,"Racial Issue In N. Rhodesia Elections: African Boycott", The Times, 12 March 1959, p11, Issue 54407 although voting did not take place in two constituencies until 9 April. The United Federal Party (UFP) was expected to win the elections, and did so by taking 13 of the 22 elected seats on the Legislative Council.

Electoral system

The elections were the first held under the Lennox-Boyd constitution."Election Move By Africans" The Times, 23 December 1958 It provided for a 30-member Legislative Council with 22 elected members, six official members and two appointed members. The 22 elected seats were divided into 12 "ordinary" seats with mostly European voters, six "special" seats mainly reserved for African voters, two reserved for African candidates and two reserved for European candidates."Sir R. Welensky Gains Election Victory: Party Sure Of 13 Seats", The Times, 23 March 1959, p10, Issue 54416 "Ordinary" voters had to have at least four years of secondary education and either an income of at least £300 a year or own property worth £500. They could also qualify by having primary education and earning at least £480 a year or owning £1,000 of property, or for those not meeting the educational requirements, have an annual income of at least £720 or own over £1,500 of property. Certain people were automatically entitled to register as "ordinary voters", including ministers of religion, chiefs recognised by the Governor and wives of anyone qualified as an "ordinary" voter (although in the case of polygamous marriages, only the senior wife qualified).David C. Mulford (1964) The Northern Rhodesian General Election 1962, Oxford University Press, pp11−12 "Special" voters had to have at least two years of secondary education and an income of at least £120 a year, or have an income of at least £150 or own property worth £500 or more. Automatic qualification as a "special" voter was given to pensioners receiving a monthly or annual pension for at least 20 years' service for one employer, headmen or hereditary councillors with at least two years of unpaid service and who were recognised by their chief, or be the wife (or senior wife) of any qualified "special" voter. All voters had to be over 21, able to complete their registration form in English and have lived in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland for at two years and in their constituency for three months.The African reserved seats were created by combining several ordinary seats, whilst the European reserved seats were based on combinations of the special seats. Every voter had two votes, one for their special or ordinary constituency member, and one for their reserved member. In the ordinary and European reserved seats, special votes were not allowed to account for more than a third of the total.A total of 30,234 people were registered to vote, up from 15,505 for the 1954 elections. Of the 23,388 "ordinary" voters, 20,546 were Europeans, 2,046 Indians and 796 Africans. The 6,846 special voters included 6,821 Africans, 20 Europeans and five Indians."N Rhodesia's General Election: Full List of Candidates", East Africa and Rhodesia, 12 March 1959, p821{| class=wikitable!colspan=5|Constituencies!Ordinary!Reserved African!Ordinary voters!Special voters

Kabwe Central>Broken Hill	rowspan=6		2,208	align=right|394

	1,200	align=right|140

	1,428	align=right|102

	1,503	align=right|289

	2,483	align=right|163

	1,243	align=right|381

	Copperbelt	align=right		325

	1,485	align=right|195

Nkana (constituency)>Kitwe West	align=right		366

	2,296	align=right|275

	1,729	align=right|403

	2,943	align=right|267

!Special!Reserved European!Ordinary voters!Special voters

	Western Rural	align=right		488

	187	align=right|637

	197	align=right|620

	Eastern Rural	align=right		790

	306	align=right|473

	266	align=right|538

Total		align=right	23,388>	6,846

Source: East Africa and Rhodesia

Campaign

A total of 54 candidates contested the elections, of which 20 were African. Four parties ran in the election, with the UFP led by John Roberts putting forward 18 candidates, the Dominion Party 10, the Central Africa Party led by John Moffat seven and the Northern Rhodesian African National Congress led by Harry Nkumbula one (Nkumbula himself). Seventeen candidates ran as independents, with one running as a Central Africa Party independent. The Zambian African National Congress, a breakaway from the NRANC, called for a boycott. The UFP were unopposed in two seats."Northern Rhodesia Elections", East Africa and Rhodesia, 26 March 1959, p880 No candidates were nominated for the Northern and Luapula Special constituencies, requiring nominations to be reopened until 19 March.The UFP held a centrist position, supporting dominion status for the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and opposing the British Colonial Office (reflecting the views of most white Northern Rhodesians). The Dominion Party put forward a right-wing platform including supporting a partition of the Federation into European and African areas. The Central Africa Party ran on a liberal platform.

Results

{{Election resultsUnited Federal Party>votes1=17376sc1=+3Dominion Party>votes2=4055sc2=NewCentral Africa Party>votes3=3402sc3=NewZambian African National Congress>Northern Rhodesian African National Congressseats4=1|sc4=NewCentral Africa Party>votes5=247sc5=Newvotes6=7964sc6=–1seats7=2|sc7=–|total_sc=+10|source=Northern Rhodesia Election Office}}

By voter roll{| classwikitable styletext-align:right

!rowspan=2|Party!colspan=3|Ordinary seats!colspan=3|Special seats!colspan=3|African seats!colspan=3|European seats!rowspan=2|Totalseats!Votes!%!Seats!Votes!%!Seats!Votes!%!Seats!Votes!%!Seats

United Federal Party	8,540	59.37	11	421	14.30	0	7,855	53.58	2	560	34.40	0	13

Dominion Party	3,329	23.14	1	−	−	−	726	4.95	0	−	−	−	1

Central Africa Party	976	6.78	0	571	19.40	1	787	5.37	0	1,068	65.60	2	3

Zambian African National Congress

>

|1

Independent Central Africa Party

–

–

–

247

8.39

1

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Independents	1,540	10.71	0	1,133	38.49	1	5,291	36.09	0	–	–	–	2

Vacant

–

–

–

–

–

2

–

–

–

–

–

–

2

Invalid/blank votes

268

–

–

–

–

752

–

–

–

–

–

Total	14,653	100	12	2,944	100	6	15,411	100	2	1,628	100	2	22

Registered voters/turnout

21,825

67.14

–

3,844

–

–

–

–

Source: Northern Rhodesia Election Office

By constituency{| classwikitable

!colspan=2|Constituency!Candidate!Party!Votes!%

Ordinary	rowspan=2	Kabwe Central>Broken Hill	John Roberts (Zambian politician)	>	United Federal Party>	1,275	align=right|74.43

		438	align=right|25.57

	William Gray Dunlop>	United Federal Party>	Unopposed

Kitwe East	Hugh Stanley	United Federal Party	align=right		77.95

Francis Smith (Northern Rhodesian politician)>Francis Smith	Dominion Party	align=right		22.05

Nkana (constituency)	>	Jerry Steyn>	United Federal Party>	890	align=right|57.09

	Dominion Party>	669	align=right|42.91

	Maurice Rabb (Northern Rhodesian politician)>Maurice Rabb	United Federal Party	colspan=2 align=center|Unopposed

Luanshya	Rodney Malcomson	United Federal Party	align=right		74.38

	Dominion Party>	416	align=right|25.62

Lusaka Central	Ernest Sergeant	United Federal Party	align=right		62.64

		188	align=right|19.40

		121	align=right|12.49

	Dominion Party>	53	align=right|5.47

Lusaka East	Ebden Carlisle	United Federal Party	align=right		46.18

Alexander Scott (Northern Rhodesian politician)>Alexander Scott	Independent	align=right		33.28

	Dominion Party>	235	align=right|19.31

		15	align=right|1.23

Lusaka West	Eric Grindley-Ferris	United Federal Party	align=right		42.58

	Central Africa Party>	336	align=right|19.47

Frank Derby>	Dominion Party>	282	align=right|16.34

		271	align=right|16.34

		102	align=right|5.91

Mufulira	Pieter Wulff	United Federal Party	align=right		52.32

	Dominion Party>	669	align=right|47.68

Ndola	Cecil Dennistoun Burney	United Federal Party	align=right		57.73

	Central Africa Party>	640	align=right|33.77

	Dominion Party>	161	align=right|8.50

Southern	Gert Smith	Dominion Party	align=right		50.21

Geoffrey Beckett>	United Federal Party>	604	align=right|49.79

Special	rowspan=3		Kwalombota Mulonda>		382	align=right|66.90

	United Federal Party>	168	align=right|29.42

		21	align=right|3.68

Eastern	Alfred Gondwe	Central Africa Party	align=right		36.28

		292	align=right|26.62

	United Federal Party>	253	align=right|23.06

		154	align=right|14.04

	No candidate nominated

North-Western	William Nkanza	Independent Central Africa Party	align=right		39.02

		213	align=right|23.65

	Central Africa Party>	173	align=right|27.33

	No candidate nominated

South-Western	Harry Nkumbula	Zambian African National Congress	>	572	align=right|88.96

Robinson Nabulyato>		71	align=right|11.04

AfricanReserved	rowspan=4		Gabriel Musumbulwa>	United Federal Party>	4,451	align=right|58.26

Lawrence Katilungu>		2,674	align=right|35.00

		313	align=right|4.10

Pascale Sokata>		202	align=right|2.64

South Central	William Kazokah	United Federal Party	align=right		48.50

Safeli Chileshe>		2,102	align=right|29.95

	Central Africa Party>	787	align=right|11.21

	Dominion Party>	726	align=right|10.34

EuropeanReserved	rowspan=2		John Moffat (Northern Rhodesian politician)>John Moffat	Central Africa Party	align=right		60.90

Reuben Kidson>	United Federal Party>	425	align=right|39.10

Western Rural	Harry Franklin (politician)	>	Central Africa Party>	406	align=right|75.05

Hugh Mitcheley>	United Federal Party>	135	align=right|24.95

Source: Northern Rhodesia Election OfficeNorthern Rhodesia: Legislative Council elections – March 20th, 1959: Analysis of results, Northern Rhodesia Election Office

By-elections

By-elections were held in the Luapula and Northern Special constituencies on 9 April.{| class=wikitable!Constituency!Candidate!Party!Votes!%

Luapula	Samson Mununga	Independent	align=right		51.88

		113	align=right|25.06

		57	align=right|12.64

		47	align=right|10.42

Northern	Lakement Ngandu	Independent	align=right		42.22

		223	align=right|41.30

Mateyo Kakumbi>		89	align=right|16.48

Source: East Africa and Rhodesia"Election Results", East Africa and Rhodesia, 25 April 1959, p1007

Aftermath

Following the election, Governor Arthur Benson appointed six ministers; John Roberts as Minister of Labour and Mines, Ebden Carlisle as Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, William Gray Dunlop as Minister of Transport and Works, Rodney Malcomson as Minister of Local Government, Gabriel Musumbulwa as Minister of African Education and Edson Mwamba as Minister of African Agriculture."New Ministers For N. Rhodesia: Two Africans Included", The Times, 28 March 1959, p5, Issue 54420

See also

• List of members of the Legislative Council of Northern Rhodesia (1959–62)

References

{{reflist}}{{Zambian elections}}