GB 0101 PP.LO - Lesotho: Political Parties Material

1 box

The ICS political parties collection was begun in 1960-1961, with special emphasis being placed on primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos. Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.
GB 0101 PP.LO 1958- Collection (Fonds) 1 box Institute of Commonwealth Studies

The majority of the material held here relates to the first two elections held under full adult suffrage in Lesotho. In 1965 the Basotho National Party (BNP) under the leadership of Leabua Jonathan won the first of these amidst accusations of interference on its behalf by the Catholic Church and the South African government. Independence followed in 1966, but when the opposition Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) appeared to have won the elections in 1970 Jonathan annulled them and suspended parliamentary government, remaining in power until deposed by the first of a series of military coups in 1986.

The ICS political parties collection was begun in 1960-1961, with special emphasis being placed on primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos. Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Manifestos, journals, constitutions, programmes, letters, petitions, resolutions, interviews, press releases, pamphlets, statements, reports, election results, conference papers and histories, 1958 onwards, issued by the Basotho National Party, the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), the Basutoland Progressive Association Party, the Communist Party of Lesotho, the Lesotho Unity Party and the United Democratic Party (Lesotho). The substantial holdings of BCP material from this period include a number of conference papers originating from the Round Table Conference of Political Leaders which sought to resolve the political crisis which followed the 1970 poll.

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

Alphabetically by party, and then in rough chronological order.

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.
Mostly English, some Sotho

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)

See also Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk

Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institutes of Commonwealth and Latin American Studies. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. Created 07/05/2004 AIM25 African history Basotho National Party Basutoland Progressive Association Party BCP , Basutoland Congress Party x Basutoland Congress Party Communist Party of Lesotho Elections Electoral systems Internal politics Lesotho Lesotho Unity Party National history Political parties Political science Politics Southern Africa United Democratic Party (Lesotho)

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Manifestos, journals, constitutions, programmes, letters, petitions, resolutions, interviews, press releases, pamphlets, statements, reports, election results, conference papers and histories, 1958 onwards, issued by the Basotho National Party, the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), the Basutoland Progressive Association Party, the Communist Party of Lesotho, the Lesotho Unity Party and the United Democratic Party (Lesotho). The substantial holdings of BCP material from this period include a number of conference papers originating from the Round Table Conference of Political Leaders which sought to resolve the political crisis which followed the 1970 poll.

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

Alphabetically by party, and then in rough chronological order.

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.

• English

• Latin

Mostly English, some Sotho

See also Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)

The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk

The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• English