Godfrey Martin Huggins, 1st Viscount Malvern

Sir Godfrey Huggins

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.

After practicing medicine in London, Huggins emigrated to Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia in 1911. 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 1958 and was elevated to the British peerage as Viscount Malvern prior to his retirement. He was succeeded as prime minister by Sir Roy Welensky.