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Dudley Senanayake
2nd Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
Born	June 19, 1911 Sri Lanka
Died	April 13, 1973 Colombo, Sri Lanka
Political party	United National Party
Religion	Buddhist

Dudley Shelton Senanayake (June 19, 1911 — April 13, 1973) was a Sri Lankan politician who served as prime minister of Sri Lanka three times during the 1950s and 1960s.

Dudley was the son of Don Stephen Senanayake, who would become the first prime minister of Sri Lanka and found the United National Party which is still one of the main political parties in Sri Lanka and of which Dudley would be a life-long member. Dudley was 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. 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 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.

• Biography

v • d • e Prime Ministers of Sri Lanka

D.S. Senanayake • Dudley Senanayake • John Kotelawala • S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike • W. Dahanayake • Dudley Senanayake • Sirimavo Bandaranaike • Dudley Senanayake • Sirimavo Bandaranaike • J.R. Jayewardene • Ranasinghe Premadasa • D.B. Wijetunga • Ranil Wickremasinghe • Chandrika Kumaratunga • Sirimavo Bandaranaike • Ratnasiri Wickremanayake • Ranil Wickremasinghe • Mahinda Rajapaksa • Ratnasiri Wickremanayake