Southern Rhodesia Liberal Party

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The Southern Rhodesian Liberal Party was founded and led by Jacob Smit (1881-1959), the former United Party (UP) minister of finance, in 1939. It is thought that Smit split from the UP largely because Prime Minister Sir Godfrey Martin Huggins failed to include him in the exclusive World War II Defence Committee.

In his A History of Southern Rhodesia, Robert Blake writes that Smit's party, "in accordance with the Rhodesian tradition of adopting the most misleading political nomenclature possible, called themselves 'Liberals.'" The party was, in fact, pronouncedly illiberal, and attempted to unite conservative, non-trade union opposition to the UP while opposing government economic regulation and the advancement of black political interests. The Liberal Party did well in the 1946 election, winning 12 out of 30 seats in the Southern Rhodesia Legislative Assembly, but in 1948 it won only five seats and its support declined subsequently. It was to become one of the political precursors to the later Rhodesian Front (RF) party.