He was educated at Surbiton County Grammar School for Boys, before studying architecture at the University of Manchester and Liverpool Polytechnic.

From 1989 to 1996 he worked as Political Secretary of the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1995 New Year Honours.

Stunell was elected as the member of parliament for Hazel Grove in 1997 having fought the seat previously in 1992 when he came second with 43.1% of the vote.

[4] On entering parliament in 1997 Stunell was appointed the Shadow Energy minister under Paddy Ashdown, a role he performed until 2005.

In January 2009 Stunell was appointed to be the Liberal Democrat representative on the International Development Select Committee and in August 2009 he was asked to take on the role of vice-chair of the general election campaign.

As a result, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats entered into negotiations with each other to form the United Kingdom's first coalition government since the Second World War.

His responsibilities in the role were community cohesion, race equality, building regulations and the implementation of the Big Society particularly with regard to housing and regeneration.