Michael Blundell

Sir Michael Blundell (7 April 1907 – 1 February 1993) was a Kenyan farmer and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Council from 1948 until 1963, and as Minister of Agriculture in two spells between 1955 and 1962.

Biography Blundell was born in London in 1907, After leaving school he moved to Kenya in 1925, taking a job on a farm in the west of the colony. He went on to become a farm manager in Solai, before buying his own farm in the area. During World War II he joined the British Army in 1940, becoming an officer in the King's African Rifles.

After the war he bought a farm at Subukia and married Geraldine Robarts in 1946, with whom he had a daughter. The following year Blundell was appointed Minister of Agriculture. He was re-elected again in 1956. During his tenure as Minister he oversaw a plan to grant land titles to the Kikuyu to resolve the Mau Mau Uprising. He left the cabinet in the same year, but after being re-elected in the 1961 general elections, returned to the post of Minister of Agriculture. However, after the 1962 Lancaster House Conference he retired from politics, not standing in the 1963 elections. He was subsequently awarded a KBE in 1964.

Following his retirement from politics, Blundell returned to farming and served as chairman of Egerton Agricultural College between 1962 and 1972. He also wrote several books, two memoirs and two books on flowers. He died in Nairobi on 1 February 1993.