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Sutton Tories look north for infusion of fresh blue blood

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The Conservative party in Sutton are clearly unconcerned that they are perceived to be a party of arrogant  posh boys who don’t know the price of a pint of milk (copyright 2012 N Dorries). They have selected the heir presumptive to the 14th baronetcy of Constable-Maxwell-Scott of Haggerston in Northumberland as their candidate to take on LibDem MP Tom Brake in Carshalton and Wallington at the next General Election.

Sutton’s new blue blood: Matthew Joseph Constable-Maxwell-Scott

Matthew Joseph Constable-Maxwell-Scott was selected on Tuesday night by Sutton Tories, who are advised on national political matters by Kenley’s own Steve “Four Jobs” O’Connell.

Matthew Joseph Constable-Maxwell-Scott, who is aged 36, lives in Tooting and is a back-bench councillor for Earlsfield ward in Tory-controlled Wandsworth, where his greatest concern appears to be the number of hyphens he uses in his name (he’s referred to there as simply “Matthew Maxwell Scott”).

But he has no obvious, direct connections with the borough of Sutton, or Carshalton and Wallington.

A baronetcy is an inherited knighthood. The Constable Maxwell-Scott baronetcy dates back to 1642, and was created to reward Matthew Joseph Constable-Maxwell-Scott’s ancestor, who was a colonel in the army of King Charles I in the English Civil War, who led troops against the Parliamentarians. Matthew Joseph Constable-Maxwell-Scott’s older brother – Sir Dominic James Constable-Maxwell-Scott – holds the title.

There is an irony in Sutton Conservatives choosing the blue-blooded Wandsworth outsider. As the chairman of Tooting Conservatives, Matthew Joseph Constable-Maxwell-Scott was reported by the Daily Mail to be critical of the selection of a “Tatler Tory” as candidate in Tooting in 2010, because he did not live in the constituency, “instead shuttling from a home in Chelsea”.

In his role as a local councillor, Matthew Joseph Constable-Maxwell-Scott opposed a local scheme to provide new, fit-for-purpose mental health facilities, stating that he was, “fighting to prevent the proposed Springfield Hospital development being out of proportion with what local residents want or the area’s infrastructure can cope”.

Matthew Joseph Constable-Maxwell-Scott, a communications manager at RSA plc, has also taken an interest in the quality of the River Wandle in its lower reaches, and describes trivia as being one of his interests.

LibDem MP Tom Brake: local Tories may have made his task easier

Tom Brake’s incumbency as an MP draws strength from his local links, so it is a surprise to see Carshalton and Wallington Tories not copying their Conservative party neighbours in Sutton and Cheam, who decided to go for local candidate Paul Scully.

Scully has welcomed the selection of the heir presumptive to the 14th baronetcy of Constable-Maxwell-Scott of Haggerston, saying, “I’m delighted that Matthew Maxwell-Scott”… demonstrating that even those in the same political party cannot agree on the use of those pesky hyphens “… has been selected to contest the seat of Carshalton and Wallington for the Conservatives in the 2015 General Election.

“I’ve known Matthew for a while now and he’s going to bring energy, ideas and sheer hard work to that part of the borough. He’ll do really well against the sitting MP.”

Hilary Wortley, the chair of Carshalton and Wallington Conservative Association, alluded to the outsider tag that could yet dog the heir presumptive to the 14th baronetcy of Constable-Maxwell-Scott of Haggerston when she said, “He and his young family plan to move in to the constituency straight away and make their home here and we look forward to welcoming them to Carshalton and Wallington.”

The selection brings to an end the fourth of the four jobs for O’Connell, the London Assembly Member for Croydon and Sutton and councillor for Kenley, who is understood to have held aspirations himself to being a parliamentary candidate in Sutton.


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