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Part III: The Nationalists’ Strike

Chapter Six

Local Elections, the Glubb Affair, and Selwyn Lloyd’s Corner

1 January to 10 March 1956

The first three months of 1956 were eventful in Bahrain as they included an

election for the Education Council, the re-emergence of tensions between the

Administration and the HEC, and the effect of regional developments that intruded

into Bahrain’s political scene. It culminated with the stoning of the recently-

appointed British Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd’s car convoy during his visit to

Bahrain.

In 1956 Bahrainis were waiting for the elections of the three councils (health,

education, and municipal affairs) that had been agreed on by the Administration and

the HEC in the previous year. Al-Watan’s issue of 13 January announced the

Government’s plan to conduct the Education Council’s elections first; six seats of the

total of twelve were up for election. A committee of Bahrainis was formed to work

with the Public Relations Department to oversee the electoral process. A period of

ten days was allocated for candidates who wished to run in order to register their

names and information. As for the delay in the process of electing the councils, the

newspaper believed that that was due to the process involved in preparing the list

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