Charles McCurdy

For the American lawyer, diplomat and politician, see Charles J. McCurdy. For the American politician, see Charles McCurdy Mathias.

Charles McCurdy

Charles Albert McCurdy (13 March 1870 – 10 November 1941) was a British Liberal Member of Parliament and minister in the Lloyd George Coalition Government. He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1920.

Background

McCurdy was educated at Loughborough Grammar School and Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Career

He then became a barrister. He was elected Member of Parliament for Northampton, then a two-member constituency, in 1910. He was returned in 1918 when it was reduced to a single-member seat, his former Liberal co-member Hastings Lees-Smith having sought election elsewhere and joined the Labour Party.

Coalition government

He was Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food Control from 1919 to 1920 and then Minister of Food Control in 1920. After the Ministry of Food Control was abolished in April 1921, he was appointed Coalition Liberal Chief Whip (officially 'Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury') in succession to Frederick Guest. Guest had held the position during the 1918 seat negotiations with the Unionists. Unlike Guest, McCurdy was more concerned with strengthening the Liberals part in the Coalition and took a much tougher line with the Unionists. A junior Unionist whip Robert Sanders, wrote in his diary that McCurdy was "a particularly bad-mannered fellow...the reverse...of Guest". McCurdy favoured a general election in January 1922 and the formation of a Centre Party made up of Liberals, moderate Conservatives and moderate Labour MPs. In March 1922, McCurdy wrote to Lloyd George claiming that one hundred Unionist MPs would defect if a Centre Party was formed. Lloyd George, however, decided to stay with the Coalition. He left office with Lloyd George when the Unionists ended the coalition in October 1922.

Liberal reunion

After the coalition ended, McCurdy favoured Liberal reunion. He was influential in drawing up the Liberals' manifesto for the 1923 general election, moving it further in a free trade direction. However, he was not returned at that election. He died in November 1941, aged 71, a month before his former co-member for Northampton, Hastings Lees-Smith.

McCurdy's niece, Margaret Wingfield, was an influential member of the Liberal Party, and eventually its President.

Electoral record

McCurdy

General election 1906: Winchester

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Guy Victor Baring	1,322	51.0	−10.3
	Liberal	Charles Albert McCurdy	1,272	49.0	+10.3
Majority			50	2.0	−20.6
Turnout				87.0	+5.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	-10.3

General election January 1910: Northampton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hastings Bertrand Lees-Smith	5,398	23.3
	Liberal	Charles Albert McCurdy	5,289	22.9
	Conservative	Richard Rouse Boughton Orlebar	4,569	19.8
	Conservative	Frederick Gorell Barnes	4,464	19.3
	Social Democratic Federation	James Gribble	1,792	7.7
	Social Democratic Federation	Henry Quelch	1,617	7.0
Majority			720	3.1
Turnout				92.7
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1918: Northampton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Albert McCurdy	18,010	62.7
	Labour	Walter Halls	10,735	37.3	n/a
Majority			7,275	25.4
Turnout				62.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

1920 Northampton by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Charles McCurdy	16,650	55.6	−7.1
	Labour	Margaret Grace Bondfield	13,279	44.4	+7.1
Majority			3,371	11.2	−14.2
Turnout				67.1	+4.6
	National Liberal hold		Swing	-7.1

General election 1922: Northampton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Rt Hon. Charles Albert McCurdy	19,974	52.3	−3.3
	Labour	Margaret Grace Bondfield	14,498	37.9	−6.5
	Liberal	Henry Harvey Vivian	3,753	9.8	n/a
Majority			5,476	14.4	+3.2
Turnout				85.5
	National Liberal hold		Swing	+1.6

General election 1923: Northampton

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Margaret Grace Bondfield	15,556	40.5	+2.6
	Unionist	John Veasy Collier	11,520	30.0	n/a
	Liberal	Rt Hon. Charles Albert McCurdy	11,342	29.5	n/a
Majority			4,036	10.5
Turnout				84.3
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	n/a

References

• The Impact of Labour, 1920 - 1924 (Cambridge University Press, 1971) by Maurice Cowling.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Works by or about Charles McCurdy at the Internet Archive
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Charles McCurdy