On 4 March 1980, following Zimbabwe’s first all-party elections, Robert Mugabe won overall control of the country’s new 100-seat parliament.
On 4 March 1980, following Zimbabwe’s first all-party elections, Robert Mugabe won overall control of the country’s new 100-seat parliament. The result, a humiliating defeat for outgoing Prime Minister Bishop Abel Muzorewa, prompted sharply mixed reactions in Britain. The former Tory Foreign Office minister and MP for Brighton Pavilion, Julian Amery, lamented that ‘The government’s Rhodesian policy lies in ruins’, while Labour MP Tony Benn said, ‘I can’t think of anything that has given me so much pleasure for a long time.’ Here’s how the British press saw it.
From the Guardian, 5 March:
The Rhodesian elections have produced the best possible decision. Anything else would have been not a decision but a lack of decision, leading to long and damaging infighting or worse. There should be no mistake that both Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo know that the unity of their country is absolutely essential and will set about to achieve it.
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