Dudley Senanayake

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The Honourable Dudley Senanayake
ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක
2nd Prime Minister of Ceylon
In office 25 March 1965 – 29 May 1970
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Succeeded by	Sirimavo Bandaranaike
In office 21 March 1960 – 21 July 1960
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Wijeyananda Dahanayake
Succeeded by	Sirimavo Bandaranaike
In office 26 March 1952 – 12 October 1953
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	Don Stephen Senanayake
Succeeded by	John Kotelawala
4th Leader of the Opposition
In office 5 August 1960 – 17 December 1964
Prime Minister	Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Preceded by	C. P. de Silva
Succeeded by	Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Member of the Ceylon Parliament for Dedigama
In office 19 March 1960 – 13 April 1973
Preceded by	Maitripala Herath
Succeeded by	Rukman Senanayake
In office 14 October 1947 – 10 April 1956
Succeeded by	Maitripala Herath
Personal details
Born	(1911-06-19)19 June 1911 British Ceylon
Died	13 April 1973(1973-04-13) (aged 61) Colombo, Sri Lanka
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	United National Party
Alma mater	Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Barrister

Dudley Shelton Senanayake (Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: Tamil: டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime Minister of Ceylon from 1952 to 1953 (first term as the second prime minister of Ceylon), in 1960 (second term), and from 1965 to 1970 (third term) and Leader of the Opposition from 1960 to 1964. Senanayake's tenures as prime minister were associated with democratic policies focused on agricultural and educational reforms with a pro-western alignment.

Born to a political family, he was the eldest son of D. S. Senanayake, who lead the independence movement that gained self-rule for Ceylon in 1948, with D. S. Senanayake becoming the prime minister of Ceylon. Dudley Senanayake, who was educated at S. Thomas' College and at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, qualified as a barrister before entering national politics in 1936 when he was elected to the State Council and succeeded his father as minister of agriculture and lands in 1946. He served in his father's cabinet as minister of agriculture and lands from 1947 to 1952. Following the sudden death of D. S. Senanayake, Dudley Senanayake succeeded his father as the second prime minister of Ceylon. He resigned shortly after the Hartal 1953 on health grounds and was succeeded by his cousin Colonel Sir John Kotelawala. He returned to active politics in 1957, and led his party, the United National Party, to a short-lived administration in 1960. His second term as prime minister lasted four months and he then served as the Leader of the Opposition from 1960 to 1964. He formed a national government in 1965 and served his third term as prime minister until 1970 during which time he initiated planning for the most ambitious construction projects in Sri Lanka, that of the Mahaweli Development programme. Following the election defeat in 1970 (a defeat encountered on technicality, which his party did not have to accept given they had the majority votes, however out of gentlemanly spirit he agreed to handover to the left movement when they formed a coalition post election results in 1970), Senanayake remained a member of parliament and the party leader until his death on 13 April 1973.