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{{Short description|British flying ace and politician (1895–1977)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=AprilSeptember 20122019}}
{{Infobox military person
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[Captain (United Kingdom)|Captain]]
| name = Alec Stratford Cunningham -Reid
| honorific_suffix = {{postnom|country=GBR|size=100%|DFC}}
| image = Alec-Stratford-Cunningham-Reid.jpeg
| caption = Cunningham-Reid in 1924
| parliament = United Kingdom
| birth_date = <!-- {{Birth date and age|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->1895▼
| constituency_MP = [[St Marylebone (UK Parliament constituency)|St Marylebone]]
| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->26 March 1977▼
| term_start = 28 April 1932
| placeofburial_label =
| term_end = 5 July 1945
| placeofburial =
| predecessor = [[Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell|Sir Rennell Rodd, Bt]]
| birth_place =[[Wayland, Norfolk]], United Kingdom▼
| successor = [[Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal|Wavell Wakefield]]
| death_place =[[Valbonne]], France▼
| constituency_MP1 = [[Warrington (UK Parliament constituency)|Warrington]]
| placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nicknameterm_start1 = 29 October 1924
| allegianceterm_end1 ={{UK}} 30 May 1929
| predecessor1 = [[Charles Dukes, 1st Baron Dukeston|Charles Dukes]]
| branch =[[British Army]]<br>[[Royal Air Force]]▼
| successor1 = Charles Dukes
| serviceyears =▼
| rankterm_start2 = 15 November =Captain1922
| unit term_end2 =[[Royal Engineers]]<br>[[No. 856 SquadronDecember RAF]]1923
| predecessor2 = [[Harold Smith (British politician)|Sir Harold Smith]]
| commands =▼
| battlessuccessor2 =[[World WarCharles I|First World War]]Dukes
| birth_name =
| awards =[[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]▼
▲| birth_date = <!-- {{Birthbirth date and age|1895|4|20|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->1895
| relations =▼
▲| birth_place = [[Wayland, Norfolk]], United KingdomEngland
| laterwork =Member of Parliament
▲| death_date = <!-- {{Deathdeath date and age|df=yes1977|YYYY3|MM26|DD1895|YYYY4|MM20|DDdf=yes}} -->26 March 1977
▲| death_place = [[Valbonne]], France
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| otherparty =
| spouse = {{ubl|{{Marriage|[[Ruth Mary Clarisse Ashley]]|1927|1940|end=divorced}} | {{Marriage|Angela Williams|1944|1949|end=divorced}}}}
| children = 2
| education =
| alma_mater =
| nickname =
| allegiance = United Kingdom
▲| branch = {{ubl|[[British Army]]<br>|[[Royal Air Force]]}}
▲| serviceyears =
| rank = Captain
| unit = {{ubl|[[Royal Engineers]]|[[No. 85 Squadron RAF]]}}
▲| commands =
| battles = [[First World War]]
▲| awardsmawards = [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]
▲| relations =
}}
[[Captain (United Kingdom)|Captain]] '''Alec Stratford Cunningham-Reid''' {{postnompost-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|DFC}} (20 April 1895 – 26 March 1977<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Scommons1.htm |title=Historical list of MPs: House of Commons constituencies beginning with "S" |work=Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages |accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2009| archiveurl|url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091220043003/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Scommons1.htm| archivedate|archive-date= 20 December 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref>), known in his early life as '''Alec Stratford Reid''', was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[World War I|First World War]] [[flying ace]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/by_name.php?pageNum_names=1&totalRows_names=101&KT_az=R|title=The Aces of World War 1|work=TheAerodrome.com|accessdateaccess-date=28 November 2009}}</ref> credited with seven aerial victories.<ref name="the-aerodrome">{{cite web|url=http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/reid1.php|title=Alec Reid|work=TheAerodrome.com|accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2009}}</ref> After the war, he entered politics as a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]], serving as a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for periods between 1922 and 1945.
 
== Early life ==
Cunningham-Reid was born in [[Wayland, Norfolk]],<ref name="the-aerodrome" /> the son of the Reverend Arthur Morse Reid and his wife Agnes Celina Flower (1861–1941), a sister of [[Archibald Dennis Flower]].<ref name="thepeerage.com">{{cite web |url=http://thepeerage.com/p2942.htm#i29412|title=Captain Alec Stratford Cunningham-Reid |last=Lundy |first=Darryl |work=ThePeerage.com |accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2009}}</ref>
 
He joined the [[Royal Engineers]] during the [[World War I|First World War]] and was commissioned as a [[Secondsecond Lieutenantlieutenant]], transferring to the [[Royal Flying Corps]].<ref name="the-aerodrome" /> In August 1918, he was awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]], the citation reading:
{{cquote
| Lt. Alec Cunningham Reid (formerly R. E.).<br />When engaging a column of infantry at a very low altitude, this officer saw a hostile balloon on the ground. This he attacked and burnt. On the two following days he shot down two aeroplanes, and a few days later destroyed a third."
|<!-- quote width in pixels -->||Citation as published in the Supplementsupplement to the ''[[London Gazette]]'', 3 August 1918 (30827/9203)<ref name="gazette-30827">{{London Gazette
| date = 3 August 1918
| issue = 30827
| page=9203
| supp= y
}}</ref>
Line 42 ⟶ 61:
 
== Political career ==
At the [[1922 United Kingdom general election, 1922|1922 general election]], Cunningham-Reid stood as the conservative candidate in [[Warrington (UK Parliament constituency)|Warrington]], a Conservative-held [[borough constituency]] in [[Lancashire]] where the sitting member [[Harold Smith (British politician)|Sir Harold Smith]] was retiring. He won the seat with a comfortable majority in a two-way contest with the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] candidate. However, at the [[1923 United Kingdom general election, 1923|next general election, in 1923]], the addition of a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] candidate saw him lose to Labour's [[Charles Dukes, 1st Baron Dukeston|Charles Dukes]].<ref name="craig1918-1949a">{{cite book
|last=Craig
|first=F. W. S.
|authorlinkauthor-link= F. W. S. Craig
|title=British parliamentary election results 1918–1949
|origyearorig-year=1969
|edition=3rd
|year=1983
Line 56 ⟶ 75:
}}</ref>
 
The Liberals in Warrington did not field a candidate at the [[1924 United Kingdom general election, 1924|1924 general election]], and Reid was returned to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] for the next five years.<ref name="craig1918-1949a" /> At the [[1929 United Kingdom general election, 1929|1929 election]] he did not stand in Warrington, but instead sought election in [[Southampton (UK Parliament constituency)|Southampton]]. This was a two-seat constituency, where both the sitting members were Conservatives not seeking re-election. Having returned only Conservatives since 1922, this might have been regarded as safer Conservative territory than Warrington, but Labour won both seats.<ref>Craig, op. cit. page 243</ref>
 
Cunningham-Reid's next chance to return to the Commons came in 1932, when the Conservative member [[Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell|Sir Rennell Rodd]] [[resignation from the British House of Commons|resigned]] from [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]]. This caused a [[by-election]] in his [[inner London]] constituency of [[St Marylebone (UK Parliament constituency)|St Marylebone]], where Cunningham-Reid was adopted as the candidate of the St Marylebone Conservative and Constitutional Union, which was the official Conservative and Unionist organisation in the area. However, a number of local Conservatives who opposed his adoption left to form the rival St Marylebone Conservative Association and nominated their own candidate, Sir B. P Blackett. It was customary for the Conservative Party leader (then [[Stanley Baldwin]]) 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.<ref name="craig-st-m">Craig, op. cit., page 43</ref> In the event, Cunningham-Reid won the seat with a slender majority of 1,013 (4.6% of the votes), and held it for a further thirteen years. At the [[1935 United Kingdom general election, 1935|1935 general election]] he was returned as the sole Conservative candidate with a huge majority over his Labour opponent.{{cncitation needed|date=November 2014}}
 
In 1943 the St Marylebone Conservative and Constitutional Union was disaffiliated from the [[National Union of Conservative and Unionist Associations]] in favour of the rival St Marylebone Conservative Association, which had remained in existence since the 1932 split. At the [[1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945|1945 general election]], Cunningham-Reid retained the support of the Conservative and Constitutional Union, but was opposed by [[Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal|Wavell Wakefield]], a former captain of the [[England national rugby union team]], who received the Conservative Association's endorsement.<ref name="craig-st-m" /> 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.<ref name="craig-st-m" />
 
=== 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]].<ref name="evening-indep">{{cite news
|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=J4sLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GlUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3040,2900086&hl=en
|title=Two Members of Commons apologise for fist fighting
|date=28 July 1943
|work=The Evening Independent
|pages=1, 6
|accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2009
}}</ref> Cunningham-Reid's description of the incident was that after a verbal dispute,
{{cquote|He ([Locker-Lampson)] ran whirling his arms around his head and struck me in the chest. I retaliated by hitting him on the head. He went down on his knees. I helped him up and by that time other members had gotten between us"|<!-- quote width in pixels -->||''The Evening Independent'', 29 July 1943<ref name="evening-indep" />
}}
 
The following day, both MPs made a formal apology in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=httphttps://hansardapi.millbanksystemsparliament.comuk/historic-hansard/commons/1943/jul/29/personal-statements#S5CV0391P0_19430729_HOC_382
|title=Personal statements
|date=29 July 1943
|origyearorig-year=House of Commons Debates 29 July 1943 vol 391 columns 1805-7
|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary 1803–2005Debates (Hansard)]]
|accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2009
}}</ref> 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 [[Thethe Blitz]], whereas he claimed to have departed on a 14-week trip before Thethe Blitz started.<ref>{{cite web
|url=httphttps://hansardapi.millbanksystemsparliament.comuk/historic-hansard/commons/1943/jul/30/personal-statement#S5CV0391P0_19430730_HOC_17
|title=Personal statement
|date=30 July 1943
|origyearorig-year=House of Commons Debates 30 July 1943 vol 391 columns 1931
|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary 1803–2005Debates (Hansard)]]
|accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2009
}}</ref> The incident became front-page news in Britain,<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/471756962.html?dids=471756962:471756962&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+29%2C+1943&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=2+M.+P.s+Fight+After+Dispute+in+Commons&pqatl=google
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131222022/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/471756962.html?dids=471756962:471756962&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+29,+1943&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=2+M.+P.s+Fight+After+Dispute+in+Commons&pqatl=google
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=31 January 2013
|title=2 M. P.s Fight After Dispute in Commons
|date=29 July 1943
|work=Chicago Daily Tribune
|page=1
|accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2009
|quote=A fist fight between two members of commons vied with the war news for space on the front pages of London's newspapers today
}}</ref> and was reported in several major American newspapers&nbsp;— including the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', which ran the story under the headline "England Grins as Members of Commons Trade Punches".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/418512161.html?dids=418512161:418512161&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+29%2C+1943&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=England+Grins+as+Members+of+Commons+Trade+Punches&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023192155/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/418512161.html?dids=418512161:418512161&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+29,+1943&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=England+Grins+as+Members+of+Commons+Trade+Punches&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 October 2012|title=England Grins as Members of Commons Trade Punches|authorsnewspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=29 July 1943|page=14|accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2009}}</ref>
 
== Personal life ==
Cunningham-Reid was married twice. His first marriage, on 12 May 1927, was to [[Mary Cholmondeley, Lady Delamere|The Hon. Ruth Mary Clarisse Ashley]] (1906–1986), daughter of Lt.-Col. [[Wilfrid Ashley, 1st Baron Mount Temple|Wilfrid William Ashley, 1st and last Baron Mount Temple]] and Amalia Mary Maud Cassel,<ref name="thepeerage.com" /> a multimillionaire.<ref name=time-mag-1927-05-23/> The couple, described by the ''[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]'' as "England's wealthiest girl and handsomest man",<ref name="time-mag-1927-05-23">{{cite news
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,730593,00.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101125024729/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,730593,00.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 25 November 2010
| title = Milestones: May 23, 1927
| date = 23 May 1927
| workmagazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time Magazine]]
| accessdateaccess-date =21 November 2009
}}</ref> had two children: Michael Duncan Alec Cunningham-Reid (1928–2014)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://peeragenews.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/michael-duncan-alec-cunningham-reid.html|title = Peerage News: Michael Duncan Alec Cunningham-Reid 1928-2014|date = 13 February 2014}}</ref> and Noel Robert Cunningham-Reid (1930–2017).<ref name="thepeerage.com" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/peerage-news/-N3IHXP-TYw|title = Redirecting to Google Groups}}</ref> 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.<ref name="time-mag-1943-08-09">{{cite news
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,766957,00.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080308122829/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,766957,00.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 8 March 2008
| title = Foreign News: Old Boys
| date = 9 August 1943
| workmagazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time Magazine]]
| accessdateaccess-date =21 November 2009
}}</ref>
 
In 1944 Cunningham-Reid married secondly Angela Williams, and they were divorced about 1949. During the [[World War II|Second World War]] he conducted an affair with the American heiress [[Doris Duke]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/who-wants-to-be-a-billionairess-1585419.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105052110/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/who-wants-to-be-a-billionairess-1585419.html |archive-date=2012-11-05 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Who wants to be a billionairess?|last=Usborne|first=David|date=8 June 1995|work=The Independent|accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2009|location=London}}</ref>
 
== Death ==
Line 119 ⟶ 147:
 
== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
 
== External links ==
*{{Hansard-contribs | captain-alec-cunningham-reid | Alec Reid }}
*{{NPG name|name=Alec Stratford Cunningham-Reid (1895-19771895–1977)}}
 
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Warrington (UK Parliament constituency)|Warrington]]
| years = [[1922 United Kingdom general election, 1922|1922]] – [[1923 United Kingdom general election, 1923|1923]]
| before = [[Harold Smith (British politician)|Sir Harold Smith]]
| after = [[Charles Dukes, 1st Baron Dukeston|Charles Dukes]]
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Warrington (UK Parliament constituency)|Warrington]]
| years = [[1924 United Kingdom general election, 1924|1924]] – [[1929 United Kingdom general election, 1929|1929]]
| before = [[Charles Dukes, 1st Baron Dukeston|Charles Dukes]]
| after = [[Charles Dukes, 1st Baron Dukeston|Charles Dukes]]
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[St Marylebone (UK Parliament constituency)|St Marylebone]]
| years = [[1932 St Marylebone by-election, 1932|1932]] – [[1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945|1945]]
| before = [[Rennell Rodd, 1st Baron Rennell|Sir Rennell Rodd, Bt]]
| after = [[Wavell Wakefield, 1st Baron Wakefield of Kendal|Wavell Wakefield]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
 
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham-Reid, Alec}}
 
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Breckland (district)District]]
[[Category:Royal Flying Corps officers]]
[[Category:British World War I flying aces]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1922–231922–1923]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1924–291924–1929]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1931–351931–1935]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1935–451935–1945]]
[[Category:Royal Engineers officers]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Norfolk]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Cunningham-Reid"