Born in Surrey, Col Sunderland was educated at the Royal Grammar School in Guildford, the University of Birmingham, Kings College London, the UK Defence Academy and the Royal College of Defence Studies. He has spent much of his adult life living and working in the Aldershot, Camberley and Bracknell area. He was commissioned into the British Army from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1993 and served for 26 years, only leaving to become the MP for Bracknell from 2019 – 24. He resumed military service in late 2024. Blessed with a regular Army career of continuous Regimental Duty and staff appointments from 2Lt to Col, his operational commitments include tours in Iraq, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone and the Falklands. He has lived in snow holes on the NATO Northern flank in Norway, run complex Army change programmes, distributed humanitarian support across Africa, led Theatre drawdown operations in Iraq and planned multi-national deployments to Afghanistan with the Omani, Danish, Estonian and Macedonian Governments. From 2014 – 16, he commanded 27 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps in Aldershot, the largest Regular unit in the Army, where he was entrusted with over 800 soldiers in multiple roles worldwide. On promotion, he served as Commander of the Army Engagement Group, where he delivered the strategic communications and engagement plan on behalf of the MOD and Army Board. As the MP for Bracknell, Col Sunderland secured focused support for Bracknell Forest Council and 94,000 constituents, including £1bn of funding for the new Frimley Park Hospital, £17m for the new Special Needs School, £16m of bespoke funding for local Special Needs families, over £10m for road improvements, significant Early Years and Childcare support, and spoke in Westminster on over 500 occasions. He served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Defence Secretary and the Home Secretary, was the lead UK Delegate for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (Science and Technology Committee) and chaired the Armed Forces Bill Select Committee. He also led the All-Party Parliamentary Groups for Veterans, the Armed Forces Covenant, Malaria and Motorsport. In his spare time, he has been a School Governor, Trustee of the Royal Logistic Corps Benevolence Committee, Chair of the British Army Motorsports Association, Director of the Armed Forces Rally Team and a fund-raiser for several charities, including Help for Heroes, SSAFA and the Samaritans.