Godfrey Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern
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| Godfrey Huggins 1st Viscount Malvern, CH, KCMG, PC | |
 Sir Godfrey Huggins |
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| In office 1953 – 1956 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | New creation |
| Succeeded by | Roland Welensky |
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| In office 1933 – 1953 |
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| Monarch | George V Edward VIII George VI Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | George Mitchell |
| Succeeded by | Garfield Todd |
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| In office September 7, 1953 – November 2, 1956 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | New creation |
| Succeeded by | Roland Welensky |
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| In office September 7, 1953 – November 2, 1956 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Preceded by | New creation |
| Succeeded by | Roland Welensky |
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1st Viscount Malvern
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| In office 1955 – 1971 |
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| Monarch | Elizabath II |
| Preceded by | New creation |
| Succeeded by | John Huggins |
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| Born | July 6, 1883 United Kingdom |
| Died | May 8, 1971 |
| Political party | Reform Party United Party United Rhodesia Party |
Godfrey Martin Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern, CH, KCMG, PC, (July 6, 1883 - May 8, 1971) was a Rhodesian politician and physician. He was educated at Malvern College and St. Thomas's Hospital, London.
After practicing medicine and training as a surgeon in London, Huggins emigrated to Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia in 1911. He served in the armed forces as a surgeon in the First World War. He entered politics in 1923 and was elected to the Legislative Council of the colony upon its creation. He became Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia in 1933 when his Reform Party won that year's general election. (The Reform Party subsequently merged with the Rhodesian Party to form the United Party). Huggins won successive elections and was knighted in 1941 by King George VI.
Southern Rhodesia and its neighbours were crown colonies of the United Kingdom. Huggins became an advocate of federating several of the colonies so that they would become an independent state within the British Empire while maintaining white minority rule with only a small number of educated Blacks having the vote in addition to white settlers. As a result of his effort the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was created in 1953 uniting Northern Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland with Huggins as the federation's first prime minister after his new United Federal Party won the federation's first general election. Huggins remained in office until 1956 and was elevated to the British peerage as Viscount Malvern prior to his retirement. He was succeeded as prime minister by Sir Roy Welensky. The biggest political issue of his tenure as Federal Prime Minister was the question of race relations. Huggins and other proponents of Federation claimed to stand for a policy of Partnership, which was claimed to be much more enlightened than the apartheid that the new Nationalist Party Government was then installing in South Africa. Partnership never got off the ground, not least because of the endless humiliations that white politicians including Huggins visited upon the few black members of parliament. One infamous quotation attributed to Huggins was that Partnership would be akin to "the partnership of rider and horse". Huggins' successor, Welensky, spent his time in office trying to prevent an inevitable breakup of the Federation.
Having served 23 years as Prime Minister, Huggins became the longest serving Prime Minister in British Commonwealth history, beating the records of Mackenzie King of Canada and Sir Robert Walpole of Great Britain and Ireland.
[edit] References
- Huggins of Rhodesia, by M. Gelfand and H Gann, published by Allen and Unwin, London, 1964
- Welensky's 4000 Days, by Roy Welensky. London, Collins.
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by George Mitchell |
Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia 1933–1953 |
Succeeded by Garfield Todd |
| Preceded by New position |
Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1953–1956 |
Succeeded by Sir Roy Welensky |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by New creation |
Viscount Malvern 1955–1971 |
Succeeded by John Huggins |
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