September 1966 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{More citations needed|date=September 2014}}

{{Infobox summit meeting

| summit_name = 16th Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference

| other_titles =

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| country = {{UK}}

| dates = {{nowrap|6–15 September 1966}}

| venues =

| cities = London

| participants = 22

| heads_of_state_label = {{nowrap|Heads of Government}}

| heads_of_state =

| chairperson = Harold Wilson
(Prime Minister)

| follows = January 1966

| precedes = 1969

| website =

| keypoints = Rhodesia, disarmament

}}

The September 1966 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference was the 16th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in the United Kingdom and was hosted by that country's Prime Minister, Harold Wilson.

The conference was dominated by the rebellion of the British colony of Rhodesia which was under the white minority rule regime of Ian Smith. Facing the possible collapse of the Commonwealth, with African states threatening to leave the association if action wasn't taken against Rhodesia, Britain agreed to a policy of No independence before majority rule (NIBMAR). The Commonwealth issued an ultimatum declaring that if the Smith regime did not comply by the end of the year Britain, with Commonwealth support, would seek mandatory sanctions against Rhodesia by the United Nations.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6_xjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CucDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2872,4334429&dq=commonwealth+prime+ministers&hl=en] {{dead link|date=November 2013}}

The Commonwealth also issued a statement calling for nuclear disarmament and deploring nuclear weapons testing by France and China.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1WhkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=unwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2554,5569965&dq=commonwealth+prime+ministers&hl=en] {{dead link|date=November 2013}}

Participants

The following nations were represented:{{citation |url=https://www.thecommonwealth-ilibrary.org/index.php/comsec/catalog/download/886/886/7462?inline=1 |website=Commonwealth Library |title=MEETING OF COMMONWEALTH PRIME MINISTERS, SEPTEMBER 1966 - FINAL COMMUNIQUE |accessdate=7 June 2025 }}

class="wikitable"
Nation

! Name

! Position

{{Country|United Kingdom}}

| Harold Wilson (Chairman)

| Prime Minister

{{Country|Australia}}

| Harold Holt

| Prime Minister

{{Country|Canada}}

| Lester Pearson

| Prime Minister

{{Country|Ceylon}}

| A. F. Wijemanne

| Minister of Justice

{{Country|Cyprus|1960}}

| Makarios III

| President

{{Country|The Gambia}}

| Sir Dawda Jawara

| Prime Minister

{{Country|Guyana}}

| Forbes Burnham

| Prime Minister

{{Country|India}}

| Swaran Singh

| Minister of External Affairs

{{Country|Jamaica}}

| Donald Sangster

| Acting Prime Minister

{{Country|Kenya}}

| Joseph Murumbi

| Vice-President

{{Country|Malawi}}

| Hastings Banda

| President

{{Country|Malaysia}}

| Tunku Abdul Rahman

| Prime Minister

{{Country|Malta}}

| Giorgio Borġ Olivier

| Prime Minister

{{Country|New Zealand}}

| Keith Holyoake

| Prime Minister

{{Country|Nigeria}}

| Babafemi Ogundipe

| High Commissioner

{{Country|Pakistan}}

| Sharifuddin Pirzada

| Minister for Foreign Affairs

{{Country|Sierra Leone}}

| Sir Albert Margai

| Prime Minister

{{Country|Singapore}}

| Lee Kuan Yew

| Prime Minister

{{Country|Trinidad and Tobago}}

| Patrick Solomon

| Minister of Foreign Affairs

{{Country|Uganda}}

| Milton Obote

| Prime Minister

{{Country|Zambia|1964}}

| Simon Kapwepwe

| Minister of Foreign Affairs

References