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Matthew was
born in Swindon in 1981, and has lived in Faringdon, Oxfordshire for
most of his life. From an early age it seemed likely that Matthew would
follow a political career, following in the footsteps of both his father
who was Mayor of Faringdon and his grandfather who was also Mayor of the
Town as well as a District Councillor for the same ward that Matthew now
represents.
Educated
locally at Ferndale Preparatory School and then at Cokethorpe School in
nearby Witney. In 1999 Matthew made the break from rural Oxfordshire as
he travelled to West London to read Politics & Philosophy at Brunel
University in Middlesex.
Whilst at
University he became Chairman of the Brunel University Conservative
Society, working hard to increase the membership and to integrate its
activities with those of the local Uxbridge Conservative Association.
Whilst
Chairman, Matthew travelled to Blackpool as a Conservative delegate to
the National Union of Student Conference. This was the first year in
many that Conservative Future had a significant and influential presence
at the conference.
During his
third year Matthew became Deputy Chairman of the Uxbridge Conservatives,
a post which he held until 2005. During this time he was heavily
involved in the organisation and planning of the 2002 Hillingdon Borough
Council Election campaign. A campaign during which he stood for the
Yiewsley ward only narrowly loosing out.
After
graduating from University, Matthew returned to Faringdon and became
heavily involved with both Wantage and West Oxfordshire Conservative
Associations. As an active member of West Oxfordshire he became
Secretary of the Conservative Future Branch in October 2002 and followed
that by becoming Deputy Chairman of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire
Conservative Future Area in November of that year.
In his home
constituency of Wantage, he became Chairman of the Faringdon branch in
March 2003 and also took on the role of constituency representative at
the Area Council.
It was in
May 2003 that Matthew was elected as District Councillor for the
Faringdon and The Coxwells ward of the Vale of White Horse District,
topping the poll.
In his role
as District Councillor Matthew has been appointed as a member of the
Council's main scrutiny committee and also as a member of the Planning
Committee. He has also been appointed Group Secretary.
As well as
standing as a candidate in the 2003 district elections, Matthew also
worked on the Conservative campaign in South Oxfordshire, publishing all
of the election literature. This campaign was a great success returning
a substantial Conservative majority for the first time in eight years.
Matthew
worked for nearly three years as Researcher for John Randall MP,
Conservative Member of Parliament for the Uxbridge Constituency and
Party Whip.
In February
2004, just before his 23rd birthday Matthew was elected unopposed to
Faringdon Town Council the third generation of his family to be a member
of that Council.
In the run
up to the 2005 General Election, Matthew took on the role of agent for
the Oxford West & Abingdon and Oxford East constituencies. He ran the
Parliamentary campaigns for both Virginia Morris and Amanda McLean as
well as the election campaigns of twenty-six local government
candidates. The result of the campaign was the Conservatives gaining an
overall majority on the County Council for the first time in twenty
years.
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