Frederick William Cundiff (17 November 1895 – 7 August 1982) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

soldier, politician and businessman. He was the son of Sir William Cundiff, a prominent businessman and politician in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

who held the office of Lord Mayor in 1922–23. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Cundiff served in the Royal Field Artillery (RFA), later transferring to the Royal Flying Corps. Following the war, he joined the part-time reserve Territorial Army, returning to the RFA, which became part of the

Royal Regiment of Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

(RA) in 1924. He was promoted to the rank of major later in 1924. He retired from the TA in 1930. With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Cundiff received a commission as a lieutenant in the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...

. In June 1944, Edmund Ashworth Radford, the member of parliament for Manchester Rusholme, died. Cundiff was selected to contest the resulting byelection for the Conservative Party. Under a wartime political pact, the parties forming the coalition government agreed not to contest vacancies, although he was opposed by a

Common Wealth Party The Common Wealth Party (CW) was a socialist political party in the United Kingdom with parliamentary representation from the middle of the Second World War until the year after its end. Thereafter it continued in being, essentially as a pre ...

and an independent candidate. The poll was held on 8 July, and Cundiff was elected with a majority of 1,760 votes over the Common Wealth candidate. He was to remain as Rusholme's member of parliament for less than a year, as he was defeated by Lester Hutchinson of the Labour Party when a general election was held in 1945 by a margin of 11 votes. The

Representation of the People Act 1948 The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections. It is noteworthy for abolishing plural voting for parliamentary elections, including ...

reorganised constituencies throughout Great Britain, and Cundiff was chosen by the Conservatives to contest the Manchester Withington Borough Constituency which was formed from parts of the previous Rusholme and Withington seats. The new constituency was first contested at the 1950 general election, and he won the seat comfortably with a majority of over 8,500 votes over his Labour challenger. When a further general election was called in the following year, Cundiff chose to retire from the

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...

. After parliament, Cundiff took up other directorships in companies, including serving as chairman of

Threlfalls Brewery Threlfalls Brewery is a Grade II listed building on Cook Street, Salford, England, built in 1896 to the design of W.A. Deighton for Chester's Brewery Company. The brewery premises, comprising two-storey offices, copper room, maturing room, sing ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cundiff, Frederick 1895 births 1982 deaths UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1950–1951 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Royal Field Artillery officers Royal Flying Corps officers Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II People from Prestbury, Cheshire Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester British Army personnel of World War I Royal Artillery officers