Tragedy struck him several times later in the decade: in 1957 his second wife died, and in 1958 his son and daughter were both killed in an air crash. Politics He entered politics in 1958, winning on the Dominion Party ticket in the Fort Victoria (now Masvingo) federal constituency. Four years later, he became the member for Charter in the Southern Rhodesian parliament, this time standing for the Rhodesian Front (RF). At the same time, he was appointed Minister for Justice. However, Dupont was not pleased with the performance of the Prime Minister, Winston Field, and after Field's failure to win independence from the United Kingdom in 1963 following the dissolution of the Central African Federation, he and Desmond Lardner-Burke, known as "the cowboys", joined forces to overthrow Field and install Ian Smith as prime minister. In October 1964, Dupont thwarted Sir Roy Welensky's attempt to re-enter politics in Rhodesia following the break-up of the Federation. Welensky had assumed the leadership of the opposition UFP (which he renamed the Rhodesia Party), and was contesting a by-election in Arundel, but Dupont deliberately resigned his constituency in Charter to oppose him. Dupont soundly defeated Welensky by 1079 votes to 633. Forming a close relationship with the rising RF politician Ian Smith, Dupont assisted in the latter's becoming prime minister in 1964 and was consequently promoted to become Smith's deputy. As Deputy Prime Minister of Rhodesia, he held the portfolio of External Affairs, and added Defence in June 1965. UDI role From August 1964 Dupont was deputy prime minister of Rhodesia, and served as Smith's minister of external affairs (adding also the Defence portfolio from June 1965). When Smith issued the Unilateral Declaration of Independence on 11 November 1965, Dupont was the second signatory to the UDI document. Smith's government initially continued to profess loyalty to Queen Elizabeth II. Accordingly, it continued to recognise Elizabeth as head of state, with oaths of allegiance to "Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth, Queen of Rhodesia, her heirs and successors". At the same time, Smith's government ceased to recognise the authority of her de jure representative, the Governor Sir Humphrey Gibbs. When Gibbs formally dismissed Smith and his entire cabinet on orders from Whitehall, Smith maintained that Gibbs' reserve power to sack the government no longer existed. Instead, on 17 November, it appointed Dupont to the post of "Acting Officer Administering the Government". Opponents of UDI who