10th Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
Host country United Kingdom
Dates3–13 May 1960
CitiesLondon
Participants11
ChairHarold Macmillan
(Prime Minister)
Follows1957
Precedes1961
Key points

The 1960 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference was the tenth Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in the United Kingdom in May 1960, and was hosted by that country's Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan.

This was the first Commonwealth conference since Malayan independence in August 1957 and saw the growing importance of the non-white "New Commonwealth" countries. Malaya's prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman and his government vigorously opposed the apartheid policies of South Africa and, with the support of Pakistan, India and Ghana, demanded that the issue be addressed by the Commonwealth. However, Macmillan insisted that the final communique could only include matters on which the leaders were unanimous.[1] Ghana advised the meeting that it would be becoming a republic and South Africa advised that it would be holding a referendum on the issue. Ghana was advised that its continued membership in the Commonwealth as a republic was recognised, however, South Africa was advised that it would need to seek consent of other Commonwealth governments for its membership to continue.[2]

Participants

Nation Name Portfolio
 United Kingdom Harold Macmillan Prime Minister (Chairman)
 Australia Robert Menzies Prime Minister
 Canada John Diefenbaker Prime Minister
 Ceylon E. J. Cooray Minister of Justice
 Ghana Kwame Nkrumah Prime Minister
 India Jawaharlal Nehru Prime Minister
 Malaya Tunku Abdul Rahman Prime Minister
 New Zealand Walter Nash Prime Minister
 Pakistan Ayub Khan President
 Rhodesia and Nyasaland Sir Roy Welensky Prime Minister
South Africa South Africa Eric Louw Minister of External Affairs

References

  1. ↑ "The Leader-Post – Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  2. ↑ Secretariat, Commonwealth (1987). The Commonwealth at the Summit: Communiqués of Commonwealth Heads of ... – Google Books. ISBN 9780850923179. Retrieved 11 November 2013 – via Google Books.
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