Political career

At the 1922 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1922

The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...

, Cunningham-Reid stood as the conservative candidate in Warrington

Warrington (UK Parliament constituency)

Warrington was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom. From 1832 to 1983 it returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-History:...

, a Conservative-held borough constituency in Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

 where the sitting MP Sir Harold Smith

Harold Smith (politician)

Sir Harold Smith was a British Conservative Party politician.-Parliamentary career:Smith unsuccessfully contested the West Yorkshire constituency of Huddersfield at the January 1910 general election, but at the December 1910 general election, Smith was elected as the Member of Parliament for...

 was retiring. He won the seat with a comfortable majority in a two-way contest with Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 candidate. However, at the next general election, in 1923

United Kingdom general election, 1923

-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...

, the addition of a Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 candidate saw him lose to Labour's Charles Dukes

Charles Dukes, 1st Baron Dukeston

Charles Dukes, 1st Baron Dukeston was a British trade unionist and Labour Party politician.-Parliamentary career:...

.

The Liberals in Warrington did not field a candidate at the 1924 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1924

- Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...

, and Reid was returned to the House of Commons for the next five years. At the 1929 election

United Kingdom general election, 1929

-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*-External links:***...

 he did not stand in Warrington, but instead sought election in Southampton

Southampton (UK Parliament constituency)

Southampton was a parliamentary constituency which was represented in the British House of Commons. Centred on the town of Southampton, it returned two Members of Parliament from 1295 until it was abolished for the 1950 general election....

. This was a two-seat constituency, where both the sitting MPs were Conservatives who did not seek re-election. Having returned only Conservatives since 1922, this might have been regarded as safer Conservative territory than Warrington, but Labour won both seats.

Cunningham-Reid's chance of a return to the Commons came in 1932, when the Conservative MP Sir Rennell Rodd

Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell

James Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, PC , known as Sir Rennell Rodd before 1933, was a British diplomat, poet and politician...

 resigned

Resignation from the British House of Commons

Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. To circumvent this prohibition, a legal fiction is used...

 from Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. This caused a by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 in his inner London

Inner London

Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. The area was first officially defined in 1965 and for purposes such as statistics, the definition has changed over time. The terms Inner London and Central...

 constituency of St Marylebone

St Marylebone (UK Parliament constituency)

St Marylebone was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Marylebone district of Central London. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

, where Cunningham-Reid was adopted as the candidate of the St Marylebone Conservative and Constitutional Union, which was the official Conservative Party organisation in the area. However, a number of local Conservatives who opposed his adoption left to form the St Marylebone Conservative Association, and nominated their own candidate, Sir B. P Blackett. It was customary for the Conservative Party leader (then Stanley Baldwin

Stanley Baldwin

Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...

) to send a letter of support to the party's candidate, but both Blackett and Cunningham-Reid each claimed to be the official Conservative nominee, and Baldwin did not endorse either of them. No other candidates were nominated, so the election became a two-way contest between the rival Conservatives.

Cunningham-Reid won the seat with a slender majority of 1,013 (4.6% of the votes), and held the seat for a further 13 years. At the 1935 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1935

The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...

 he was returned as the official Conservative candidate with a huge majority over his Labour opponent. However, in 1943 the St Marylebone Conservative and Constitutional Union was disaffiliated from the Party in favour of the rival St Marylebone Conservative Association (which had remained in existence since the 1932 split). At the 1945 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1945

The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...

, Cunningham-Reid retained the support of the Conservative and Constitutional Union, but was opposed by Wavell Wakefield

Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal

William Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal , known as Sir Wavell Wakefield between 1944 and 1963, was an English rugby union player for Harlequins and England, President of the Rugby Football Union and Conservative politician.-Background and education:Wakefield was born in Beckenham,...

, a former captain of the England national rugby union team

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

 who received the official Conservative endorsement.

Without official party support, Cunningham-Reid fared poorly, finishing third with only 11% of the votes. Wavell won the seat with a comfortable majority over the second-placed Labour candidate.

In Parliament

On 28 July 1943, Cunningham-Reid was involved in an exchange of blows in the lobby of the House of Commons with fellow Conservative MP Oliver Locker-Lampson

Oliver Locker-Lampson

Commander Oliver Stillingfleet Locker-Lampson, CMG, DSO was a British politician and naval officer...

. Cunningham-Reid's description of the incident was that after a verbal dispute,
The following day, both MPs made a formal apology in the House of Commons. On 30 July Cunningham-Reid made a personal statement in which he explained to the House that the matter had arisen after Locker-Lampson had accused him of leaving London during The Blitz

The Blitz

The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...

, whereas he claimed to have departed on a 14-week trip before The Blitz started. The incident became front-page news in Britain, and was reported in several major American newspapers — including the Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

, which ran the story under the headline "England Grins as Members of Commons Trade Punches".

Personal life

Cunningham-Reid was married twice. His first marriage, on 12 May 1927, was to Hon. Ruth Mary Clarisse Ashley, daughter of Lt.-Col. Wilfrid William Ashley, 1st and last Baron Mount Temple and Amalia Mary Maud Cassel, a multimillionaire. The couple, described by the Cincinnati Enquirer "England's wealthiest girl and handsomest man", had two children: Michael Duncan Alec Cunningham-Reid (born 1928) and Noel Robert Cunningham-Reid (born 1930). On their honeymoon, she insisted that they share her wealth because "no decent woman likes to have a man live with her in charity", but when the couple divorced in 1940, he sued for half of her $400,000 annual income.

He married again to Dorothea Helen (maiden name unknown). During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 he conducted an affair with the American heiress Doris Duke

Doris Duke

Doris Duke was an American heiress, horticulturalist, art collector, and philanthropist.-Family and early life:...

.

External links