Dudley Senanayake

The Honourable Dudley Senanayake
2nd Prime Minister of Ceylon
In office March 26, 1952 – October 12, 1953
Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Don Stephen Senanayake
Succeeded by	John Lionel Kotalawela
6th Prime Minister of Ceylon
In office March 21, 1960 – July 21, 1960
Preceded by	Wijeyananda Dahanayake
Succeeded by	Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike
8th Prime Minister of Ceylon
In office March 27, 1965 – May 29, 1970
Preceded by	Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike
Succeeded by	Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike
Personal details
Born	June 19, 1911 Ceylon
Died	April 13, 1973(1973-04-13) (aged 61) Colombo, Sri Lanka
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	United National Party
Profession	Politician, Barrister
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Dudley Shelton Senanayake (Sinhala:ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සෙනානායක) (June 19, 1911 — April 13, 1973) was a Ceylonese (now Sri Lanka) politician, who became the second Prime Minister of Ceylon and went on to become prime minister on 2 more times during the 1950s and 1960s.

Early life

The young Dudley Senanayake was educated at the prestigious St Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia. He captained the Thomian team in the Royal-Thomian encounter.

Senanayake attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

Dudley was born on 19 June, 1911 as the eldest son to Molly Dunuwila and Don Stephen Senanayake, who would become the first Prime Minister of Ceylon and found the United National Party which is still one of the main political parties in Sri Lanka and of which Dudley would become a life-long member. Dudley received his secondary education at the prestigious S. Thomas' College, where he excelled in his studies and sports.

He become the Head Prefect, captained the college team at cricket at the Royal-Thomian and gained colours in Hockey, Boxing and Athletics. Senanayake then went on to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge to read for Natural Science Tripos and later was admitted to Middle Temple as a Barrister.

Political career

The first Cabinet of Ministers of Ceylon

After returning to Ceylon, Dudley was elected a member of the State Council while his father was Minister of Agriculture and served as a back-bencher for 10 years. He succeeding his father as Minister of Agriculture in 1946 and held the post after Independence. He was still serving as agriculture minister when his father died unexpectedly. Four days later, on March 26, 1952, to the surprise of many, Dudley was chosen as prime minister by the Governor-General Lord Soulbury over his cousin Sir John Kotelawala.

He called a general election, which the UNP won. The government became unpopular a year later, in 1953, when the price of rice was raised and subsidies were cut. Though the UNP remained in power, Senanayake resigned as prime minister during the Hartal 1953 and left politics.

He returned to politics in 1957 when the UNP lost elections. In March 1960, the UNP managed to form a government after elections and Senanayake became prime minister again, but the coalition fragmented and Dudley resigned as prime minister after only four months in office after new elections were held in which the UNP won less seats. He became the leader of the opposition and help force early elections in 1965 by persuading 14 supporters of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike to defect.

Senanayake served his longest term as prime minister from March 1965 to May 1970. His government originally consisted of six other parties and included both Tamil and Sinhalese nationalists. His government has been credited with restoring the Sri Lankan economy. He and his allies were defeated in the 1970 elections. He remained active in politics until his death, which occurred after a long illness on April 13, 1973.

See also

• List of political families in Sri Lanka
• Don Stephen Senanayake
• Rukman Senanayake

External links

• The Senanayake Ancestry
• Website of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
• Biography
• A Prime Minister who knew his onions
• Dudley – the reluctant Prince By Buddhika Kurukularatne
• Methek Kathawa Divaina
• Raja Veediya in Sinhala

Government offices
Preceded by Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike	Prime Minister of Ceylon 1965–1970	Succeeded by Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike
Preceded by Wijeyananda Dahanayake	Prime Minister of Ceylon 1960–1960	Succeeded by Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike
Preceded by Don Stephen Senanayake	Prime Minister of Ceylon 1952–1953	Succeeded by John Lionel Kotalawela

Persondata
Name	Senanayake, Dudley
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 19, 1911
Place of birth	Ceylon
Date of death	April 13, 1973
Place of death	Colombo, Sri Lanka