Lord Richard Cecil well established links with Rhodesia, the capital city of which was named Salisbury after the third Marquess (it was renamed Harare in 1982 on the second anniversary of Zimbabwean independence). The family had extensive land holdings in the country and the fifth Marquess (Lord Richard's grandfather) was a leading British supporter of the white minority UDI government that ruled Rhodesia from 1965-1979. Lord Richard was the eldest of the younger brothers of Robert Cecil, Viscount Cranborne, who has been both an MP and the Leader of the House of Lords. In 2003, Cranborne became 7th Marquess of Salisbury upon the
2005 Zimbabwean parliamentary election the country has been invited to observe the Zimbabwean poll in at least five different capacities. It has been invited as a member of SADC, as chair of the organ on politics, defence and security, and as a neighbouring country. The ruling African National Congress has also been asked to send an observer team, while parliament has set up a multi-party delegation. Five members of South Africa's governing African National Congress party arrived in Harare on 10 March headed by James Motlatsi, the first foreign observers. The 20-member South African parliamentary observer mission led by ANC chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe