The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland general election of 15 December 1953 was the first election to the legislative assembly of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which had been formed a few months before. The election saw a landslide victory for the Federal Party under Godfrey Huggins, who had been Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia for the past 20 years.
Voters elected 35 members of a unicameral Federal Assembly: 14 from Southern Rhodesia constituencies, 8 from Northern Rhodesia constituencies, and four from Nyasaland. In addition, there were three members from each territory representing African interests: one of these was a European and two were African. In Southern Rhodesia only, these positions were elected; in the other territories, the Governor appointed the European member, while an electoral college chose the African members.
When the Federal constitution was agreed at the London conference of 1953, the qualification for electors in Northern and Southern Rhodesia was taken as the same as those in operation for territorial elections in those territories. Nyasaland did not have direct elections at this point and so was excluded until the Legislative Council there enacted proper provisions.
At the election day, the electorate was comprised as follows:
| Territory | European electors | Asian electors | Coloured electors | African electors | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Rhodesia | 48,869 | 594 | 570 | 441 | 50,474 |
| Northern Rhodesia | 14,588 | 856 | 3 | 15,447 | |
| Nyasaland | 983 | 75 | – | – | 1,058 |
| Total | 64,440 | 2,095 | 444 | 66,979 |
The advent of the Federation caused a profound shift in the structure of politics in the Rhodesias. Godfrey Huggins formed the Federal Party to fight the election, merging his own United Party with the opposition Rhodesia Party and incorporating supporters in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Several members of other opposition parties in Southern Rhodesia who supported federation also decided to join the Federal Party. Among them were William Eastwood, from the Rhodesia Labour Party, whose departure was prompted by the initial decision of his Party to fight the elections: Eastwood felt that this would divide supporters of federation. Another opposition member going over to the Federal Party was Ian Smith, who had been elected as a Liberal candidate in the 1948 general election.
Opponents of federation formed the Confederate Party, which advocated a system in the Rhodesias akin to apartheid in South Africa. This issue was also raised by Huggins who campaigned vigorously against it. Huggins believed the policy was unpopular and impractical. A group called the Progressive Party was formed to offer voters a party of the centre-left, but swiftly dissolved when it found organising a difficulty and realised it would not be able to nominate more than about two candidates. There were a few independent candidates, most notably two in Northern Rhodesia. Dr Alexander Scott in Lusaka and Norman Lacey in the copperbelt constituency of Nkana-Chingola both advocated a liberal racial policy similar to that which the Progressive Party had been intending to offer.
One unusual court case arose after nominations. Gaston Thornicroft, a mixed-race man who was described as "living like a European", was refused nomination for the Southern Rhodesia constituency for Europeans to represent African interests on the grounds that he was not a European. He challenged the decision in court but was unsuccessful.
The state of the parties was:
| Party | Members | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Rhodesia | Nyasaland | Southern Rhodesia | Total | |||
| Federal Party | 7 | 4 | 13 | 24 | ||
| Independents | 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 | ||
| Confederate Party | align="center" | - | align="center" | - | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 11 | 7 | 17 | 35 |
| Constituency Electorate and turnout | align=center valign=top colspan=2 | Candidate | align=center valign=top | Party | align=center valign=top | Votes | align=center valign=top | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=top rowspan=2 | Broken Hill 1,552 (60.3%) | Roland Welensky | Federal Party | 817 | 87.3 | |||
| William Kirkwood | Confederate Party | 119 | 12.7 | |||||
| valign=top rowspan=2 | Kafue 1,015 (62.9%) | Guillaume François Marais Van Eeden | Federal Party | 441 | 69.1 | |||
| John Gaunt | Confederate Party | 197 | 30.9 | |||||
| valign=top rowspan=2 | Livingstone 1,377 (66.7%) | John Cranmer Graylin | Federal Party | 671 | 73.0 | |||
| Frank Derby | Confederate Party | 248 | 27.0 | |||||
| valign=top rowspan=2 | Luanshya-Mufulira 3,066 (60.0%) | Vincent Thomas Joyce | Federal Party | 1,326 | 72.1 | |||
| Douglas Edgar Charsley | Confederate Party | 513 | 27.9 | |||||
| valign=top rowspan=2 | Luangwa 889 (61.9%) | Frank Bruce Robertson | Federal Party | 446 | 81.1 | |||
| Charles Benjamin Dodkins | Confederate Party | 104 | 18.9 | |||||
| valign=top rowspan=3 | Lusaka 2,172 (67.4%) | Dr Alexander Scott | Independent | 758 | 51.8 | |||
| Ernest Walter Sargeant | Federal Party | 626 | 42.8 | |||||
| Raymond Beresford Pakenham | Confederate Party | 79 | 5.4 | |||||
| valign=top rowspan=2 | Ndola 1,946 (57.2%) | Frank Stephen Owen | Federal Party | 907 | 81.5 | |||
| Willem Hugo Van Zyl | Confederate Party | 206 | 18.5 | |||||
| valign=top rowspan=3 | Nkana-Chingola 3,490 (66.6%) | George Wellington Rex L'Ange | Federal Party | 1,819 | 78.2 | |||
| Edward Brockman Hovelmeier | Confederate Party | 392 | 16.9 | |||||
| Norman Henry Lacey | Independent | 115 | 4.9 | |||||
| Territory | align=center valign=top colspan=2 | Member | align=center valign=top | Party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Rhodesia | Mateyo Kakumbi | Independent | ||
| Dauti Lawton Yamba | Independent | |||
| Territory | Member | Party |
|---|---|---|
| NORTHERN RHODESIA | Dr. John Fearby Campbell Haslam (resigned, 20 December 1954) | Independent |
| Sir John Smith Moffat (appointed 22 December 1954) | Independent |
| Constituency Electorate and turnout | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYASALAND Four members 1,058 (85.8%) | Rupert Cecil Bucquet | Federal Party | 903 | 87.3 |
| John Foot | Federal Party | 879 | ||
| Paul Frederick Brereton | Federal Party | 822 | ||
| Malcolm Palliser Barrow | Federal Party | 808 | ||
| Pranlal Dayaram Lalsodagarwala | Independent | 105 | 9.7 | |
| Alibhai Adambhai Desai | Independent | 85 | ||
| Charles Walsh | Confederate Party | 29 | 3.0 |
| Territory | Member | Party |
|---|---|---|
| NYASALAND | Wellington Manoah Chirwa | Independent |
| Clement Robin Kumbikano | Independent |
| Constituency Electorate and turnout | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BORDER 3,618 (83.2%) | Benjamin Disraeli Goldberg | Federal Party | 1,886 | 62.7 |
| Andrew Skeen | Confederate Party | 1,123 | 37.3 | |
| BULAWAYO 3,401 (75.9%) | Donald Macintyre | Federal Party | 1,789 | 69.3 |
| Arthur Lear Smith | Confederate Party | 793 | 30.7 | |
| BULAWAYO SUBURBS 3,575 (77.3%) | William Hives Eastwood | Federal Party | 1,961 | 71.0 |
| William Shaw | Confederate Party | 801 | 29.0 | |
| DARWIN 3,547 (79.4%) | John Moore Caldicott | Federal Party | 1,946 | 69.1 |
| Richard Hunter Christie | Confederate Party | 872 | 30.9 | |
| MIDLANDS 3,584 (71.5%) | Ian Douglas Smith | Federal Party | 1,148 | 44.8 |
| Robert Williamson | Independent | 785 | 30.6 | |
| William Henry Weedon | Confederate Party | 629 | 24.6 | |
| MREWA 3,664 (80.3%) | Neville Gwynne Barrett | Federal Party | 1,816 | 61.7 |
| George Richard Musgrave | Confederate Party | 1,126 | 38.3 | |
| SALISBURY 3,995 (72.8%) | Leslie Manfred Noel Hodson | Federal Party | 2,023 | 69.5 |
| John Liston Dalrymple | Confederate Party | 886 | 30.5 | |
| SALISBURY SOUTH 3,665 (75.2%) | William Alexander Eustace Winterton | Federal Party | 1,496 | 54.3 |
| Hendrik Andries Alberts | Confederate Party | 1,261 | 45.7 | |
| SALISBURY SUBURBS 3,649 (77.2%) | Godfrey Martin Huggins | Federal Party | 2,055 | 73.0 |
| Estcourt Vernon Herbert Cresswell-George | Confederate Party | 761 | 27.0 | |
| SALISBURY WEST 3,848 (78.3%) | James Watson Swan | Federal Party | 2,069 | 68.7 |
| Percy Arthur Newton | Confederate Party | 943 | 31.3 | |
| SEBAKWE 3,331 (78.0%) | John Richard Dendy Young | Confederate Party | 1,415 | 54.5 |
| Jacob Letterstedt Smit | Federal Party | 1,182 | 45.5 | |
| UMGUZA 3,675 (78.0%) | Julius Macdonald Greenfield | Federal Party | 2,072 | 72.3 |
| William Henry Rattham | Confederate Party | 795 | 27.7 | |
| UMNIATI 3,484 (75.5%) | Leslie Major Cullinan | Federal Party | 1,491 | 56.7 |
| James Angus Graham, Marquess Graham | Confederate Party | 1,138 | 43.3 | |
| WESTERN 3,375 (73.4%) | Robert Francis Halsted | Federal Party | 1,593 | 64.3 |
| Andries Bernardus Mentz | Confederate Party | 883 | 35.7 |
| Constituency Electorate and turnout | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MASHONALAND 26,049 (55.9%) | Jasper Zengeza Savanhu | Independent | 9,447 | 64.9 |
| Stanlake John William Thompson Samkange | Independent | 5,120 | 35.1 | |
| MATABELELAND 24,425 (53.1%) | Masotsha Mike Hove | Independent | 10,558 | 81.5 |
| Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo | Independent | 2,400 | 18.5 |
| Constituency Electorate and turnout | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOUTHERN RHODESIA 50,474 (72.4%) | Percy Ibbotson | Independent | 13,402 | 36.7 |
| Ian Finlay McLean | Confederate Party | 10,183 | 27.9 | |
| James Henderson Farquhar | Independent | 8,353 | 22.8 | |
| Henry Alfred Holmes | Independent | 4,621 | 12.6 |
Rev. Percy Ibbotson, the specially elected European member representing African interests from Southern Rhodesia, died on 3 April 1955. When nominations closed on 27 May 1955, Harry Ellinder Davies was the only candidate to replace him, and was therefore declared elected unopposed.
Guy Van Eeden, who became increasingly opposed to Federal Party policies, was expelled from the party in July 1955 and responded by resigning on 8 July 1955 to seek re-election in his constituency of Kafue (Northern Rhodesia). The by-election was held on 6 October 1955.
| Constituency Electorate and turnout | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KAFUE 1,290 (64.7%) | Guillaume François Marais Van Eeden | Independent | 500 | 59.9 |
| Geoffrey Bernard Beckett | Federal Party | 305 | 36.5 | |
| Frank Sheridan Derby | Independent CP | 30 | 3.6 |
J.R. Dendy Young, the Confederate Party member for Sebakwe (Southern Rhodesia), was appointed as a Judge. He resigned on 26 January 1956, and the by-election to succeed him was held on 5 April 1956. By this time, the Confederate Party had been dissolved and replaced by the Dominion Party.
| Constituency Electorate and turnout | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEBAKWE | Robert Williamson | DP | 805 | 36.7 |
| Dr Morris Isaac Hirsch | Federal Party | 786 | 35.8 | |
| Johannes Mathys de Kock | Com P | 603 | 27.5 |
Neville Barrett, the Federal Party member for Mrewa (Southern Rhodesia) died on 15 April 1957. The by-election to replace him was held on 6 June 1957.
| Constituency Electorate and turnout | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MREWA 3,853 (67.4%) | Winston Joseph Field | DP | 1,375 | 52.9 |
| Evan Roy Campbell | Federal Party | 1,223 | 47.1 |
Jasper Savanhu, the specially elected African member for Mashonaland (Southern Rhodesia), had problems with the proposed new constitution in terms of its provisions for voters' qualifications. Although his responsibility was to represent the views of Africans, his electorate were predominantly Europeans. He therefore decided to vote for the proposals, but immediately to resign (1 August 1957) and seek re-election. When nominations closed on 27 September 1957, he was the only candidate nominated, and was therefore declared elected unopposed.
Paul Brereton (Federal Party), one of the ordinary members for Nyasaland, died on 21 July 1958. The seat was left vacant due to the imminent federal election.