There was a relaxation of racial discrimination laws and a drive to enroll black voters during his period of office, but this was done against a background of civil unrest and a tightening of security measures. The policies of Whitehead's government caused alarm among the white population, while the blacks remained dissatisfied with the advances they had made. The conservative Rhodesian Front, led by Winston Field, defeated the UFP in the 1962 elections, riding upon opposition to the new constitution and Whitehead's relatively liberal views on race, winning 35 of 50 white seats. Of the 15 seats for blacks, the UFP won 14. Whitehead was Leader of the Opposition in Parliament from 1962 until February 1965. He later lost his seat in the May 1965 election when the Rhodesian Front took all the white seats in Parliament. The Rhodesian Front, from 1964 under the leadership of Ian Smith, would rule Rhodesia until 1979. Alec Douglas-Home in his memoir 'The Way the Wind Blows' noted his view of Whitehead as being very deaf, very blind and able to consume 13 beers in an evening without leaving the room. He was a bachelor and was seen by former Federation Minister Julian Greenfield in his memoirs (page 234) as having even less charisma than Edward Heath with voters, whether male or female. Retirement After leaving politics, Whitehead retired back to the United Kingdom to live with his sister near Whitchurch in Hampshire. From there he called for a union between the UK and Rhodesia as a way forward following UDI. He died of cancer of the oesophagus and lung in a nursing home in Hamstead Marshall near Newbury in September 1971. A plaque to him in Salisbury (now Harare) Cathedral Cloisters was unveiled by former Governor Sir Humphrey Gibbs in 1972. His papers, including an unpublished autobiography, are in the Rhodes House Library, Oxford. Honours Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1944, in the 1952 New Year Honours Whitehead was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG). In the 1954 Birthday Honours he was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) for "public services rendered in connection with the setting up of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland". References Further reading |- |- 1905 births 1971 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Officers