View source for United Federal Party

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox political party
|name = United Federal Party
|native_name = 
|logo = 
|leader = 
|founded = 1957
|dissolved = 1963
|merger = [[Federal Party (Rhodesia and Nyasaland)|Federal Party]]<br />[[United Rhodesia Party]]
|predecessor =
|successor = [[National Progressive Party (Zambia)|National Progressive Party]]<br />[[Nyasaland Constitutional Party]]<br />[[Rhodesia National Party]]
|merged = [[Centre Party (Rhodesia)|Centre Party]]
|headquarters = [[Harare|Salisbury]]
|membership = 
|ideology =
|position =
|national = 
|colours = 
|seats1_title = 
|seats1 = 
|seats2_title = 
|seats2 = 
|symbol = 
|colorcode = {{party color|United Federal Party}}
|country = Southern Rhodesia
}}{{Politics of Rhodesia}}

The '''United Federal Party''' (UFP) was a political party in the [[Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland]].

==History==
The UFP was formed in November 1957 by a merger of the [[Federal Party (Rhodesia and Nyasaland)|Federal Party]], which had operated at the federal level, and the Southern Rhodesian [[United Rhodesia Party]].<ref>Assa Okoth (2006) ''A History of Africa: African nationalism and the de-colonisation process'', East African Publishers, p108</ref><ref name=J>[http://www.janda.org/ICPP/ICPP1980/Book/PART2/0-AngloAmerica/07-Rhodesia-Nyasaland/Party071.htm Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, United Federal Party] Political Parties: A Cross-National Survey</ref> However, after conservative elements gained control of the party, the liberal faction led by [[Garfield Todd]] broke away to re-establish the United Rhodesia Party.<ref>Gabriel Abraham Almond & James Smoot Coleman (2015) ''The Politics of the Developing Areas'', Princeton University Press, p312</ref>

In the [[1958 Southern Rhodesian general election|1958 general election]] in Southern Rhodesia the UFP won 17 of the 30 seats, despite receiving fewer votes than the [[Dominion Party]], whilst the URP failed to win a seat. In the [[1958 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland election|federal election]] in November 1958, the UFP won 46 of the 59 seats.

[[1959 Northern Rhodesian general election|General elections]] in Northern Rhodesia in March 1959 saw the UFP win 13 of the 20 elected seats. In the [[1961 Nyasaland general election|August 1961 elections]] in [[Nyasaland]] the [[Malawi Congress Party]] won 22 seats (including two upper roll seats) and the UFP five (all from the upper roll).

The [[1962 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland election|next federal elections]] in March 1962 were boycotted by all other parties, allowing the UFP to win 54 of the 57 seats. However, that was the end of the UFP's success. In the [[1962 Northern Rhodesian general election|Northern Rhodesian general elections]] in September the UFP won the most seats, but the [[Zambian African National Congress|Northern Rhodesian African National Congress]], which held the balance of power, went back on a secret pact its leader [[Harry Nkumbula]] had made with the UFP and allowed the [[United National Independence Party]] to form the government. [[1962 Southern Rhodesian general election|General elections]] in Southern Rhodesia in December 1962 saw the UFP defeated by the new [[Rhodesian Front]]; the UFP winning 29 seats to the Front's 35.

In April 1963 the party was split into four; the federal branch was rebranded as the '''Federal Party''' and continued to be led by [[Roy Welensky]], whilst the territorial branches became the [[National Progressive Party (Zambia)|National Progressive Party]] in Northern Rhodesia, the [[Nyasaland Constitutional Party]] in Nyasaland and the [[Rhodesia National Party]] in Southern Rhodesia, where it was led by [[Edgar Whitehead]].<ref>JRT Wood (2012) ''So Far and No Further!: Rhodesia's Bid for Independence During the Retreat from Empire 1959-1965'', p146</ref><ref>"U.F.P. Takes New Form: Four Separate Parties", ''East Africa and Rhodesia'', 25 April 1963, p729</ref> The federation was dissolved at the end of 1963.

==Election results==
=== Federal elections ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Election
!Leader
!Seats
!+/–
!Position
!Status
|-
|[[1958 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland election|1958]]
| rowspan="2" |[[Roy Welensky]]
|{{Composition bar|46|59|hex=#0087dcff}}
|New
|1st
|{{yes2|Majority government}}
|-
|[[1958 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland election|1962]]
|{{Composition bar|54|57|hex=#0087dcff}}
|{{increase}} 8
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{yes2|Majority government}}
|-
|}

=== Northern Rhodesia elections ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Election
!Leader
!Seats
!+/–
!Position
!Status
|-
|[[1959 Northern Rhodesian general election|1959]]
| rowspan="2" |[[Roy Welensky]]
|{{Composition bar|13|22|hex=#0087dcff}}
|New
|1st
|{{yes2|Majority government}}
|-
|[[1962 Northern Rhodesian general election|1962]]
|{{Composition bar|15|45|hex=#0087dcff}}
|{{increase}} 2
|{{steady}} 1st
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
|}

=== Southern Rhodesia elections ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Election
!Leader
!Seats
!+/–
!Position
!Status
|-
|[[1958 Southern Rhodesian general election|1958]]
| rowspan="2" |[[Edgar Whitehead]]
|{{Composition bar|17|30|hex=#0087dcff}}
|New
|1st
|{{yes2|Majority government}}
|-
|[[1962 Southern Rhodesian general election|1962]]
|{{Composition bar|29|65|hex=#0087dcff}}
|{{increase}} 12
|{{decrease}} 2nd
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
|}

=== Nyasaland elections ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Election
!Leader
!Seats
!+/–
!Position
!Status
|-
|[[1961 Nyasaland general election|1961]]
|[[Michael Hill Blackwood]]
|{{Composition bar|5|28|hex=#0087dcff}}
|New
|2nd
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Malawian political parties}}
{{Zambian political parties}}
{{Zimbabwean political parties}}

[[Category:Conservative parties in Zimbabwe]]
[[Category:Liberal parties in Zimbabwe]]
[[Category:Political parties in Rhodesia]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1957]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1963]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Malawi]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Zambia]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Zimbabwe]]
[[Category:1957 establishments in Northern Rhodesia]]
[[Category:1957 establishments in Nyasaland]]
[[Category:1957 establishments in Southern Rhodesia]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1958]]
[[Category:1963 disestablishments in Northern Rhodesia]]
[[Category:1963 disestablishments in Nyasaland]]
[[Category:1963 disestablishments in Southern Rhodesia]]