The Northern Rhodesian Labour Party was a political party in

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...

History

The party was established by

Roy Welensky Sir Roland "Roy" Welensky (''né'' Raphael Welensky; 20 January 1907 – 5 December 1991) was a Northern Rhodesian politician and the second and last Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Born in Salisbury, Southern Rho ...

in 1941. It was supported by European working class miners and artisans, and campaigned for closer union with

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

. The first congress of the party was held in

Nkana Nkana is a section of the city of Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, Zambia which started off in the early part of the 20th century as a railway station to support the growing complex of copper mining operations. It was named after Chief Nkana, the lo ...

on 11 July 1941, and called for immediate amalgamation with Southern Rhodesia. In the 1941 general elections the party contested five of the eight seats, winning them all;"N. Rhodesian elections: New Labour Party Wins Five Seats", ''East Africa and Rhodesia'', 4 September 1941, p7 Welensky in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

, F. T. Sinclair in Livingstone and Western, Michael McGann in

Luanshya Luanshya is a town in Zambia, in the Copperbelt Province near Ndola. It has a population of 117,579 (2008 census). The town is situated in an area which was under Chief Mushili of the Lamba people. Luanshya was founded in the early part of the 20 ...

, F S Roberts in

Ndola Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia in terms of size and population, with a population of 627,503 (''2022 census''), after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development after Lusaka. It is the I ...

and Martin Visagie in

."Matters of Moment", ''East Africa and Rhodesia'', 4 September 1941, p3 However, it was dissolved after it was defeated in the

1944 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1944. Asia * 1943–1944 Iranian legislative election Europe * 1944 Icelandic constitutional referendum * 1944 Irish general election * 1944 Swedish general election United Kingdom * 1944 Berwick-upon ...

.Don Taylor (1955), ''The Rhodesian: The Life of Sir Roy Welensky'', Museum Press, p75

References

Defunct political parties in Zambia 1941 establishments in Northern Rhodesia Political parties established in 1941 Political parties with year of disestablishment missing Labour parties {{Zambia-stub