Charles Albert McCurdy was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Liberal

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...

 Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 and minister in the Lloyd George Coalition Government

Coalition Government 1916-1922

The Coalition Government of David Lloyd George came to power in the United Kingdom in December 1916, replacing the earlier wartime coalition under H.H. Asquith, which had been held responsible for reverses during the Great War. Those Liberals who continued to support Asquith served as the Opposition...

. He was made a member of the Privy Council

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

 in 1920.

McCurdy was educated at Loughborough Grammar School

Loughborough Grammar School

Loughborough Grammar School founded in 1495 by Thomas Burton, is an independent school for boys in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It is a day school for over 1100 pupils and a boarding school for nearly 100. It is one of three schools known as the Loughborough Endowed Schools, along with...

 and Pembroke College, Cambridge

Pembroke College, Cambridge

Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...

. He then became a barrister

Barrister

A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...

 and was then elected Member of Parliament for Northampton

Northampton (UK Parliament constituency)

Northampton was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Northampton which existed until 1974.It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until its representation was reduced to one member for the 1918 general election...

 in 1910. He was Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food Control from 1919 to 1920 and then Minister of Food Control in 1920. After the Ministry of Food Control was abolished in April 1921, he was appointed government Chief Whip

Chief Whip

The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires.-The Whips Office:...

 (officially 'Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial position in the British Government. The holder is usually the Government Chief Whip in the House of Commons. However, the office is no longer attached to the Treasury...

') until October 1922.

He favoured a general election in January 1922 and the formation of a Centre Party made up of Liberals, Tories

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 and moderate Labour

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...

 MPs. In March 1922, McCurdy wrote to Lloyd George

David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...

 claiming that one hundred Conservative MPs would defect if a Centre Party was formed. Lloyd George, however, decided to stay with the Coalition. McCurdy was influential in drawing up the Liberals' manifesto

Manifesto

A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...

 for the 1923 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1923

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

, moving it further in a free trade

Free trade

Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...

 direction.

Sir Robert Sanders, 1st Baron Bayford

Robert Sanders, 1st Baron Bayford

Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Arthur Sanders, 1st Baron Bayford PC, JP was an English politician.-Background and education:...

, wrote in his diary that McCurdy was "a particularly bad-mannered fellow...the reverse...of Guest

Frederick Edward Guest

Frederick Edward Guest CBE DSO PC , often known as Freddie Guest, was a British politician best known for being Chief Whip of Prime Minister David Lloyd George's Coalition Liberal Party between 1917 and 1921. He was also Secretary of State for Air between 1921 and 1922...

".

McCurdy's niece, Margaret Wingfield

Margaret Wingfield

Margaret Wingfield CBE was a British Liberal Party activist.Wingfield was the niece of the Liberal Member of Parliament Charles McCurdy. She was educated at Freiburg University and the London School of Economics...

, was an influential member of the Liberal Party, and eventually its President.

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