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.
McCurdy was educated at Loughborough Grammar School and Pembroke College, Cambridge.[1] He then became a barrister and was then elected Member of Parliament for Northampton in 1910. 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 government Chief Whip (officially 'Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury') until October 1922.
He favoured a general election in January 1922 and the formation of a Centre Party made up of Liberals, Tories and moderate Labour MPs. In March 1922, McCurdy wrote to Lloyd George claiming that one hundred Conservative MPs would defect if a Centre Party was formed. Lloyd George, however, decided to stay with the Coalition. McCurdy was influential in drawing up the Liberals' manifesto for the 1923 general election, moving it further in a free trade direction.
Sir Robert Sanders, 1st Baron Bayford, wrote in his diary that McCurdy was "a particularly bad-mannered fellow...the reverse...of Guest".
McCurdy's niece, Margaret Wingfield, was an influential member of the Liberal Party, and eventually its President.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Herbert Paul John Greenwood Shipman |
Member of Parliament for Northampton January 1910 – 1923 With: Hastings Lees-Smith, 1910–1918 |
Succeeded by Margaret Bondfield |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by George Henry Roberts |
Minister of Food Control 1920 – 1921 |
Office abolished |
| Preceded by Frederick Guest |
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury 1921 – 1922 With: Leslie Wilson |
Succeeded by Leslie Wilson |