1920 Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council election

Legislative Council elections were held in Southern Rhodesia on 30 April 1920, the seventh elections to the Legislative Council.

The Legislative Council comprised thirteen elected members, together with six members nominated by the British South Africa Company, and the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia. The Resident Commissioner of Southern Rhodesia, Crawford Douglas Douglas-Jones, also sat on the Legislative Council ex officio but without the right to vote.

An important change in the franchise had been made in 1919 through the Women's Enfranchisement Ordinance, which gave the vote to women on the same basis as men. Married women (except those married under a system of polygamy) qualified under the financial and educational status of their husbands, if they did not possess them in their own right. This brought 3,467 new voters to the lists.

New districts were needed for this election under a provision of the 1914 proclamation that had created the 12 separate districts. The proclamation allowed for an automatic increase of one new district for each increase of 792 voters. The required number had been reached in 1917. The boundary changes that followed left the Eastern district untouched, as well as the four districts in the south-west (Bulawayo District, Bulawayo North, Bulawayo South, and Western).

Previous elections to the Legislative Council were contested by individuals standing on their own records. By 1914, although no political parties had been created, the candidates for the Legislative Council had been broadly grouped in two camps, one favouring renewal of the Charter from the British South Africa Company, and the other moves towards full self-government within the Empire.

By 1920 political parties had been formed, largely around these ideas. The Responsible Government Association, headed by Sir Charles Coghlan, sought a form of administrative autonomy within the Empire. They were in alliance with the Rhodesia Labour Party throughout most of the colony. Ranged against them were the Unionists, who advocated Southern Rhodesia joining the Union of South Africa, and a large number of Independent candidates who were generally in support of continuation of the charter from the British South Africa Company.

Los miembros propuestos por la Compañía Británica de Sudáfrica fueron:

• James Donald Mackenzie , Fiscal General
• Ernest Charles Baxter , Contralor de Aduanas e Impuestos Especiales
• Dr. Eric Arthur Nobbs, PhD, BSc, FHAS, Director de Agricultura
• George Henry Eyre , Director General de Correos
• Sir Ernest William Sanders Montagu , Secretario de Minas y Obras Públicas
• Percival Donald Leslie Fynn , Tesorero

Robert MacIlwaine , procurador general, fue nombrado miembro para sustituir a Ernest Charles Baxter durante la ausencia temporal de este último el 6 de mayo de 1920. George Henry Eyre renunció y fue sustituido por Robert MacIlwaine el 25 de marzo de 1921.

Durante una sesión especial del Consejo Legislativo celebrada entre el 3 y el 11 de octubre de 1923 para establecer la nueva administración tras la adjudicación del gobierno responsable, los miembros designados fueron:

• Sir John Robert Chancellor , Gobernador (sentado en el asiento de oficio del Administrador)
• Percival Donald Leslie Fynn , Tesorero
• Robert James Hudson , Fiscal General
• Sir Francis James Newton KCMG CVO , Secretario Colonial
• Eric Arthur Nobbs , Director de Agricultura
• Robert MacIlwaine , Procurador General
• Dr. Andrew Milroy Fleming CMG , Director Médico

• Libro de referencia sobre elecciones parlamentarias y referendos en Rodesia del Sur, 1898-1962 , editado por FMG Willson (Departamento de Gobierno, University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Salisbury , 1963).
• Titulares de cargos administrativos y ministeriales 1894–1964 por FMG Willson y GC Passmore, con la colaboración de Margaret T. Mitchell (Libro fuente n.º 3, Departamento de Gobierno, University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Salisbury , 1966).
• Anuario Oficial de la Colonia de Rodesia del Sur , N.° 1 – 1924, Salisbury, Rodesia del Sur