Frederick Cundiff

Who was Frederick Cundiff?

Frederick William Cundiff was a British soldier, politician and businessman.

He was the son of Sir Wiliam Cundiff, a prominent businessman and politician in Manchester who held the office of Lord Mayor in 1922-23.

During the First World War Cundiff served in the Royal Field Artillery, later transferring to the Royal Flying Corps. Following the war he joined the part-time reserve Territorial Army, returning to the RFA. He was promoted to the rank of major in 1924. He retired from the TA in 1930.

With the outbreak of the Second World War Cundiff received a commission as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve.

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 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.