The 1948 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference was the third Meeting of the Heads of Government of the British Commonwealth. It was held in the United Kingdom in October 1948, and hosted by British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee.
It was the first such meeting to be attended by the prime ministers of recently independent Asian states Ceylon, India and Pakistan. The growth in membership ended the previous 'intimacy' of the meeting. The issue of whether countries, specifically India, could remain Commonwealth members if they became republics was raised but was not resolved until the next conference in 1949.
Ireland was initially invited to attend the meeting. After Ireland announced the pending repeal of its last connection to the British king, this invitation was revoked. At the time, the British Commonwealth still regarded Ireland as one of its members. Ireland had not participated in any equivalent conferences since 1932. It had announced plans to adopt legislation severing all ties with the British crown, but had not yet brought it into force. Irish Minister for External Affairs Seán MacBride and Minister for Finance Patrick McGilligan attended one day of the conference as observers.
The Final Communique issued by the leaders at the conclusion of the meeting saw a change in nomenclature. The terms 'Dominion' and 'Dominion Government' were superseded by 'Commonwealth country' and 'Commonwealth Government'. 'British' was omitted in front of 'Commonwealth of Nations' for the first time in the Communique.By Commonwealth Secretariat, The Commonwealth at the Summit: Communiqués of Commonwealth Heads of Government, Text of the Final Communique of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Meeting 1948
Participants Nation Name Portfolio United Kingdom Clement Attlee Prime Minister (chairman) Australia Herbert Evatt Deputy Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King Prime Minister Ceylon Don Stephen Senanayake Prime Minister India Jawaharlal Nehru Prime Minister New Zealand Peter Fraser Prime Minister Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan Prime Minister South Africa Eric Louw Minister of Mines and Economic Affairs Southern Rhodesia Sir Godfrey Huggins Prime MinisterHuggins was also Minister for Native Affairs
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