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 British 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. Ghana informed the meeting that it would become a republic whilst South Africa announced that it would be holding a referendum on becoming a republic. Ghana was advised that its continued membership in the Commonwealth as a republic was recognised. South Africa was advised that it would need to seek the consent of other Commonwealth governments for its membership to continue.
Participants
Nation Name Portfolio Harold Macmillan Prime Minister (chairman) Robert Menzies Prime Minister John Diefenbaker Prime Minister Edmund Joseph Cooray Minister of Justice Kwame Nkrumah Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Prime Minister Walter Nash Prime Minister Ayub Khan President Sir Roy Welensky Prime Minister South Africa Eric Louw Minister of External Affairs
References