Theleader of the opposition inSouthern Rhodesia andRhodesia was a title held by the leader of the largest political party in the most important house of the legislature that was not in government.
This was theunicameralLegislative Assembly from 1924 to 1970 and the House of Assembly of thebicameralParliament from 1970 to 1979. They acted as the public face of theopposition, leading theShadow Cabinet and the challenge to the government on the floor of the legislature. They thus acted as a chief critic of the government and ultimately attempt to portray the opposition as a feasible alternate government.
List of leaders of the opposition in Rhodesia (1924–1979)
^At the1924 election, the only opposition MPs elected wereindependents. No leader of the opposition was recognised.
^At the1954 election, the only opposition MPs elected were independents. No leader of the opposition was recognised, althoughRaymond Stockil andStewart Aitken-Cade seemed to be recognised as having a leadership role.
^At the1970 election, the electoral system changed. Although the African MPs formed themselves into parties, theRhodesian Front government declined to recognise any of them as the formal Opposition and therefore did not have a leader of the opposition. There was awhite opposition party, the Rhodesia Party formed by Rhodesian Front defectorAllan Savory MP in 1972, but he was not recognised as leader of the opposition either. Neither was theRhodesian Action Party recognised as the lead opposition party when formed in 1977 — instead the Rhodesian Front government dissolved Parliament and called anearly election.
European Politics in Southern Rhodesia, by Colin Leys (1959, Oxford University Press)
Rhodesia: The Road to Rebellion, by James Barber (1967, Oxford University Press)
White Working Class Disunity: the Southern Rhodesia Labour Party, by M. C. Steele (1st volume 1970, Rhodesian History; article in historical journal, particularly useful in explaining the situation in the 1940–45 period)
Some Recollections of a Rhodesian Speaker, by Hon.A.R.W. Stumbles (1980, Books of Rhodesia)
^Subsequentlynonpartisan when the Rhodesia Party merged with the Reform Party.
^Davies may have ceased to be leader of the opposition when he acceptedGodfrey Huggins's invitation to join the government following the1939 election.
^Apparently, the party fell apart during this assembly.
^At the1965 election, theRhodesian Front won all of the 50 constituencies with a mostly white electorate ("A"-roll seats), and the Rhodesia Party opposition won only in the districts which had a mostly black electorate ("B"-roll seats). As a result the Rhodesia Party soon dissolved and had itself replaced by an African opposition party.
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