Reginald Pole Blundell (4 February 1871 – 9 August 1945) was a member of the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...

from 1907 to 1918 and the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

from 1919 to 1922. Blundell was born in the

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

suburb of Norwood and educated at Norwood Public School. He married Alice Clara Gates in 1894. He joined the Tobacco Twisters' Union and was its secretary for eight years. He became secretary of the United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia and was its president in 1905. He was a Senate candidate in the 1906 federal election in South Australia, finishing a close 5th, missing out by less than 200 votes. Blundell successfully challenged the election, with the High Court in June 1907 declaring that the election of the third choice Senator Joseph Vardon was void. Blundell did not personally benefit from that success as he had subsequently been successful at a by-election in January 1907 to the House of Assembly as one of four members for the seat of

, representing the United Labor Party. At the 1915 election in Crawford Vaughan's Labor government he became minister of industry, mines and marine. In 1917, he left the Labor Party in the 1917 Labor split over

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

and joined the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

. He was minister for repatriation, agriculture and industry in

Archibald Peake Archibald Henry Peake (15 January 1859 – 6 April 1920) was an Australian politician. He was Premier of South Australia on three occasions: from 1909 to 1910 for the Liberal and Democratic Union, and from 1912 to 1915 and 1917 to 1920 for ...

's government until his defeat at the 1918 election. At the 1919 federal election, he was elected as a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

to the federal seat of

, but was defeated at the 1922 election. Blundell returned to work for W.D. & H.O. Wills as a commercial traveller. He died of

pernicious anaemia Pernicious anemia is a disease where not enough red blood cells are produced due to a deficiency of vitamin B12. Those affected often have a gradual onset. The most common initial symptoms are feeling tired and weak. Other symptoms may includ ...

in the Adelaide suburb of Glenelg survived by his wife, three daughters and three sons.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blundell, Reginald Pole Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Adelaide Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian trade unionists 1871 births 1945 deaths Deaths from pernicious anemia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Australian MPs 1919–1922