1980 Southern Rhodesian general election

General elections were held in Southern Rhodesia between 14 February and 4 March 1980 to elect the members of the House of Assembly of the first Parliament of the independent Zimbabwe. As stipulated by the new Constitution of Zimbabwe produced by the Lancaster House Conference, the new House of Assembly was to comprise 100 members, 80 of whom would be elected proportionally by province by all adult citizens on a common role, and 20 of whom would be elected in single-member constituencies by whites on a separate roll.

1980 Southern Rhodesian general election
14 February–4 March 1980
All 100 seats in the House of Assembly
  First party Second party
 
Leader Robert Mugabe Joshua Nkomo
Party ZANU ZAPU
Last election N/A N/A
Seats won 57
(Common Roll)		 20
(Common Roll)
Seat change N/A N/A
Popular vote 1,668,992
(Common Roll)		 638,879
(Common Roll)
Percentage 63.0%
(Common Roll)		 24.1%
(Common Roll)
  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Ian Smith Abel Muzorewa
Party RF UANC
Last election 28
(White Roll)		 51
Seats won 20
(White Roll)		 3
(Common Roll)
Seat change 8 48
Popular vote 13,621
(White Roll)		 219,307
(Common Roll)
Percentage 83.0%
(White Roll)		 8.3%
(Common Roll)
Prime Minister before election

Abel Muzorewa
UANC

 Prime Minister-designate

Robert Mugabe
ZANU

Politics of Rhodesia
Political history
Government
Legislature
Elections
Political parties
Foreign relations
National symbols

The result was a victory for Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union, contesting the election as ZANU–PF, which won 57 of the 80 common roll seats, giving it a majority in the 100-member House of Assembly. Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union, contesting the election as the Patriotic Front, won 20 of the 80 common roll seats, with the remaining 3 going to Abel Muzorewa's United African National Council. Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front won all 20 of the white roll seats, with most of its candidates running unopposed. As a result of the election, Robert Mugabe became Zimbabwe's first prime minister upon the country's independence on 11 April 1980.

There was widespread violence during the election.

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