Alec Cunningham-Reid: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=AprilSeptember 20122019}}

| name = Alec Stratford Cunningham -Reid

| honorific_suffix = {{postnom|country=GBR|size=100%|DFC}}

| image = Alec-Stratford-Cunningham-Reid.jpeg

| caption = Cunningham-Reid in 1924

| nicknameterm_start1 = 29 October 1924

| allegianceterm_end1 ={{UK}} 30 May 1929

| rankterm_start2 = 15 November =Captain1922

| unit term_end2 =[[Royal Engineers]]<br>[[No. 856 SquadronDecember RAF]]1923

| battlessuccessor2 =[[World WarCharles I|First World War]]Dukes

[[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.

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:

| 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

| page=9203

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

|authorlinkauthor-link= F. W. S. Craig

|origyearorig-year=1969

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.{{citation 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" />

|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=J4sLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GlUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3040,2900086&hl=en

|accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2009

{{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" />

|url=httphttps://hansardapi.millbanksystemsparliament.comuk/historic-hansard/commons/1943/jul/29/personal-statements#S5CV0391P0_19430729_HOC_382

|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

|origyearorig-year=House of Commons Debates 30 July 1943 vol 391 columns 1931

|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary 1803–2005Debates (Hansard)]]

|accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2009

|accessdateaccess-date=21 November 2009

}}</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>

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

| 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

| workmagazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time Magazine]]

| accessdateaccess-date =21 November 2009

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>

{{Reflist|30em}}

*{{NPG name|name=Alec Stratford Cunningham-Reid (1895-19771895–1977)}}

| 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]]

| 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]]

| 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]]

[[Category:UK MPs 1922–231922–1923]]

[[Category:UK MPs 1924–291924–1929]]

[[Category:UK MPs 1931–351931–1935]]

[[Category:UK MPs 1935–451935–1945]]