 The Rhodesian government was ardently anti @-@ communist , and opposed immediate black rule , which Smith said would cause " the destruction of our country " , pointing to ongoing events such as the Congo Crisis as evidence . Parliament remained mostly white , but Salisbury contended it had close to unanimous support from all races in pursuing independence under the 1961 constitution , citing various tests of opinion it conducted in late 1964 . The Prime Minister stood <unk> against any constitutional change he believed was too radical , regarding this as a matter of national and regional security . According to his memoirs , he worked to prevent a " mad rush into one man , one vote with all the resultant corruption , nepotism , chaos and economic disaster which we had witnessed in all the countries around us . " The Labour Cabinet of British Prime Minister Harold Wilson , which replaced the previous Conservative administration in October 1964 , did not give credence to the Rhodesian tests of opinion , and insisted on majority rule as a condition for independence . The Commonwealth repeatedly urged Britain to intervene directly should Rhodesian defiance continue , while British liberals worried that if left unchecked Salisbury might drift towards South African @-@ style apartheid . 
