Matches in DBpedia 2016-04 for { ?s ?p "William John Harper (22 July 1916 – 8 September 2006) was a politician, general contractor and Royal Air Force fighter pilot who served as a Cabinet minister in Rhodesia (or Southern Rhodesia) between 1962 and 1968, and signed that country's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from Britain in 1965. Born and raised in Calcutta, the son of an old and prominent Anglo-Indian merchant family, Harper joined the RAF in 1937 and served as an officer throughout the Second World War, including as one of \"The Few\" in the Battle of Britain, in which he was wounded in action. He was appalled by Britain's granting of independence to India in 1947, and emigrated to Rhodesia on retiring from the air force with the rank of wing commander two years later.Harper contended that British rule in the subcontinent should never have ended, and took a similar stance on his adopted homeland, reportedly declaring that it, South Africa and the neighbouring Portuguese territories would \"be under white rule forever\". He entered politics with the Dominion Party in 1958 and became Minister of Water Development and Roads in the Rhodesian Front (RF) government in 1962. The head of a far-right group within the RF, he called for Rhodesia to abolish black representation in parliament and adopt South African-style apartheid. He became one of the main agitators within the government for a UDI if Britain did not grant independence with white Rhodesians still in control.When Prime Minister Winston Field resigned in 1964, Harper was a front-runner to succeed him, but lost out to Ian Smith, who moved him to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Each breakdown or setback during the early years of Smith's premiership prompted press speculation that Harper might replace him. Observers in the United Kingdom, including the Prime Minister Harold Wilson, perceived Harper's rightist faction to wield considerable influence over Smith's decision-making in the period before and directly following UDI, a view shared by Harper himself. In 1966, when Smith brought a working document back from the HMS Tiger talks with Wilson, Harper led opposition to the terms in Cabinet, contributing to their rejection.Harper resigned from the Rhodesian Front in July 1968, soon after Smith dismissed him from the Cabinet, reportedly because Harper had had an extramarital affair with a British agent. He subsequently became a vocal critic of the Prime Minister, greeting each step Smith made towards settlement with black nationalists during the Bush War with public indignation. Harper returned to politics in 1974, when he set up the United Conservative Party to oppose Smith in that year's election, but his party failed to win a seat. By the time majority rule began in Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, following the Internal Settlement of the previous year, Harper had left for South Africa. He died in 2006 at the age of 90."@en }
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- William_Harper_(Rhodesian_politician) abstract "William John Harper (22 July 1916 – 8 September 2006) was a politician, general contractor and Royal Air Force fighter pilot who served as a Cabinet minister in Rhodesia (or Southern Rhodesia) between 1962 and 1968, and signed that country's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from Britain in 1965. Born and raised in Calcutta, the son of an old and prominent Anglo-Indian merchant family, Harper joined the RAF in 1937 and served as an officer throughout the Second World War, including as one of \"The Few\" in the Battle of Britain, in which he was wounded in action. He was appalled by Britain's granting of independence to India in 1947, and emigrated to Rhodesia on retiring from the air force with the rank of wing commander two years later.Harper contended that British rule in the subcontinent should never have ended, and took a similar stance on his adopted homeland, reportedly declaring that it, South Africa and the neighbouring Portuguese territories would \"be under white rule forever\". He entered politics with the Dominion Party in 1958 and became Minister of Water Development and Roads in the Rhodesian Front (RF) government in 1962. The head of a far-right group within the RF, he called for Rhodesia to abolish black representation in parliament and adopt South African-style apartheid. He became one of the main agitators within the government for a UDI if Britain did not grant independence with white Rhodesians still in control.When Prime Minister Winston Field resigned in 1964, Harper was a front-runner to succeed him, but lost out to Ian Smith, who moved him to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Each breakdown or setback during the early years of Smith's premiership prompted press speculation that Harper might replace him. Observers in the United Kingdom, including the Prime Minister Harold Wilson, perceived Harper's rightist faction to wield considerable influence over Smith's decision-making in the period before and directly following UDI, a view shared by Harper himself. In 1966, when Smith brought a working document back from the HMS Tiger talks with Wilson, Harper led opposition to the terms in Cabinet, contributing to their rejection.Harper resigned from the Rhodesian Front in July 1968, soon after Smith dismissed him from the Cabinet, reportedly because Harper had had an extramarital affair with a British agent. He subsequently became a vocal critic of the Prime Minister, greeting each step Smith made towards settlement with black nationalists during the Bush War with public indignation. Harper returned to politics in 1974, when he set up the United Conservative Party to oppose Smith in that year's election, but his party failed to win a seat. By the time majority rule began in Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, following the Internal Settlement of the previous year, Harper had left for South Africa. He died in 2006 at the age of 90.".