The party was originally formed as an organisation with the aim of increasing the number of registered voters in the 1953 federal elections to the Assembly of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; the franchise for the elections was restricted to people who were members of a "constituent association" recognised by the Governor-General.
[1] In the build-up to the 1956 general elections, it campaigned on a platform to "protect and foster the interests of Europeans in Nyasaland and to further the economic development of the territory".
[2] It also called for the constitution to remain unchanged for a year after the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was finalised, as well as seeking further land for European settlement.
[2] The party was widely regarded as a political vehicle for Michael Hill Blackwood.
However, two candidates (F G Collins and A C W Dixon) later withdrew their support of the Association's platform of protecting European interests.