Eric Cunningham

Who is Eric Cunningham?

Eric Gordon Cunningham is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1984, as a member of the Ontario Liberal Party.

Cunningham was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and educated at the University of Western Ontario and McMaster University. He worked as an advertising executive, was a founder of the Ontario New Liberal Association, and received a provincial recognition award in 1968.

He campaigned for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1974 federal election as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada, and lost to Progressive Conservative Bill Kempling by 668 votes in Halton—Wentworth. He was elected to the Ontario legislature in a provincial election the following year, defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent Don Ewen by 1,977 votes in Wentworth North. He was re-elected by an increased majority in the 1977 election, and defeated Progressive Conservative challenger Ann Sloat in 1981. He supported Jim Breithaupt for the Liberal Party leadership in 1982, and resigned from the legislature in 1984 to run federally a second time.

Cunningham was defeated in the 1984 federal election, losing to Progressive Conservative candidate Geoff Scott by over 10,000 votes amid Brian Mulroney's landslide victory across the country.