Sir Michael Blundell (1907-1993) was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire. On leaving school in 1925, he went out to farm in Kenya, eventually buying his own property in the Nakuru district. His interest in agriculture led to his first public appointment when, in 1938, he was elected to the Coffee Board of Kenya. During World War Two, he served in the Royal Engineers in Abyssinia (Ethiopia), Asia, and East Africa and, in 1945, was appointed Colonel, East Africa Command. From 1946 to 1947, as Chairman of the European Settlement Board, he initiated the post-war European Settlement Schemes.

His political career began in 1948, when he became elected member for Rift Valley, a position he retained until 1957, and again from 1959 to 1963. He was elected to the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya in 1949 and became Chairman the following year. In 1951, he was Acting Leader, then Leader, until 1954, of the European Elected Members. In 1954, he was appointed Minister Without Portfolio to the Emergency War Council during the Mau Mau crisis, later leaving it to serve as Minister of Agriculture, a post he held until 1955 and from 1961 to 1962. During the period 1954-1957, he belonged to the United Country Party of European Liberals.

A couple of years after the party's demise, he was requested to organise a moderate group of elected members of the Legislative Council, the nucleus of the New Kenya Group. In 1959, he resigned from office in order to lead it. In his role as leader of moderate opinion in Kenya, he played a large part in bringing about the negotiations for constitutional developments leading to independence. These negotiations resulted in the two Lancaster House Conferences of 1960 and 1962.

He retired from active politics in 1963 in order to attend to his estate and work on his biography. In 1962, he became Chairman of the Egerton Agricultural College, of the East African Breweries in 1964, and the Uganda Breweries in 1965. He was also Chairman of Saccone and Speed (E.A.) Ltd. He was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 1943 and created KBE (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1962.