The 2017 Northern Rhodesia general election was held 4 years after the previous and saw both major parties face significant losses.
}}| ‹ 2013 | ||||
| Northern Rhodesia general election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All 79 seats of the Northern Rhodesia Legislative Assembly | ||||
| 23 February 2017 | ||||
| First party | Second party | Third party | ||
| Leader | Taonga Harper | Tafadzwa Hill | Mudiwa Martell | |
| Party | [[People's Freedom Party|Template:People's Freedom Party/meta/shortname]] | [[United Federal Party|Template:United Federal Party/meta/shortname]] | [[Green Party|Template:Green Party/meta/shortname]] | |
| Leader since | 15 August 2008 | 3 March 2014 | 11 December 2007 | |
| Leader's seat | Lusaka Central | Kabwata | Matero | |
| Last election | 43 | 26 | 1 | |
| Seats before | 42 | 24 | 2 | |
| Seats after | 35 | 21 | 10 | |
| Seat change | -8 | -5 | +9 | |
| Percentage | 31.76 | 22.45 | 18.61 | |
| Swing | -6.46 | -5.17 | +8.69 | |
| Fourth party | Fifth party | Sixth party | ||
| Leader | Dakarai Marlow | Holly Beckett | Dylan Huff | |
| Party | [[National Alliance|Template:National Alliance/meta/shortname]] | [[Social Democratic Party|Template:Social Democratic Party/meta/shortname]] | PL | |
| Leader since | 11 February 2013 | 2 April 2013 | 13 June 2014 | |
| Leader's seat | Kasama | Ran in Ndola Central | Ran in Pemba | |
| Last election | 8 | 1 | NA | |
| Seats before | 9 | 1 | 1 | |
| Seats after | 10 | 2 | 1 | |
| Seat change | +2 | +1 | +1 | |
| Percentage | 13.92 | 6.09 | 4.59 | |
| Swing | -0.72 | +1.77 | +4.69 | |
|
Previous Premier Premier | ||||
Results[]
The election saw the People's Freedom Party remain the largest party but losing its majority whilst the United Federal Party saw comparable losses.
The Greens where the biggest winners of the election gaining 9 seats and doubling their vote whilst the Social Democratic Party gained a second seat, putting a halt to the terminal decline the party appeared to be in.
Aftermath[]
Following the election significant negotiations were required to form a government with the People's Freedom Party initially attempting to form a coalition with the Greens.
Following the collapse in talks between the PFP and Greens the Provincial governor offered the United Federal Party a mandate to attempt to form a government, however this was rejected by party leader Tafadzwa Hill who argued the significant losses the party faced made it impossible for the Party to enter government.
The mandate to form a government again fell to the PFP who entered talks with all parties about the formation of a possible minority government. Talks saw the Greens agree to provide confidence and supply to a minority government whilst the UFP agreed to prevent early elections for at least 2 years of the Parliamentary term in exchange for some policy concessions. With the conclusion of talks Taonga Harper was reelected in a vote of the Legislative Assembly on the 2nd round in which just a plurality of voted was required after both the UFP and Greens abstained to allow the formation of a minority government.
| Investiture Vote | Round 1 | Round 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Votes For | 35 | 35 |
| Votes Against | 34 | 13 |
| Abstentions | 10 | 31 |