Paul Scully
Paul Stuart Scully (born 29 April 1968) is a British politician who served as Minister for London from February 2020 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy from October 2022.[2] He was sacked from both roles in November 2023.[3] A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sutton and Cheam since 2015.
Paul Scully | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Minister for London | |
| In office 13 February 2020 – 13 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Chris Philp |
| Succeeded by | Greg Hands |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy | |
| In office 27 October 2022 – 13 November 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Damian Collins |
| Succeeded by | Saqib Bhatti |
| Minister of State for Local Government and Building Safety | |
| In office 8 July 2022 – 27 October 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Kemi Badenoch |
| Succeeded by | Lee Rowley |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets | |
| In office 13 February 2020 – 8 July 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Kelly Tolhurst |
| Succeeded by | Jane Hunt |
| Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party | |
| In office 26 July 2019 – 13 February 2020 | |
| Leader | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Helen Whately |
| Succeeded by | Ranil Jayawardena |
| Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam | |
| Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Burstow |
| Majority | 8,351 (16.5%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 April 1968 Rugby, Warwickshire, England[1] |
| Political party | Conservative (since 1997) |
| Alma mater | University of Reading |
| Website | www |
Scully served as Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for the London region from 2017 to 2019, having been appointed by Theresa May to replace Stephen Hammond who had the Conservative whip withdrawn for rebelling against the government over the EU withdrawal bill.[4][5][6] After Boris Johnson was appointed Prime Minister in July 2019, Scully was promoted to Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party. He was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets and Minister for London in the February 2020 reshuffle. In July 2022, he became Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
In May 2023, Scully announced he would "pause" his ministerial role to seek the Conservative Party's nomination in the upcoming London mayoral election,[7] although he failed to even make the shortlist.[8]
Early life edit
Scully was born in Rugby, Warwickshire on 29 April 1968. His father's family was originally from Burma. He was privately educated at Bedford School in Bedfordshire and the University of Reading.[9] He moved to London after graduating and ran a number of small businesses.[10] Scully joined the Conservative Party after the 1997 general election. He had previously voted for the Referendum Party, a Eurosceptic, single-issue political party that was active in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 1997.[11]
Political career edit
Local government edit
Scully unsuccessfully stood as a Conservative candidate in the Wallington South ward of the London Borough of Sutton Council elections in 2002, but was subsequently elected in the Carshalton Central ward in 2006.[12] He was the Leader of the Opposition on Sutton Council for three of his four years as a councillor.[13] Scully lost his seat to the Liberal Democrats at the following local election in 2010.[14]
In addition to his work as a local councillor, Scully worked as a parliamentary aide for Conservative MPs Andrew Pelling, Shailesh Vara and Alok Sharma, and set up a public relations company called Nudge Factory Ltd in 2011.[15]
Member of Parliament edit
Scully was selected as the Conservative Party candidate for the marginal Sutton and Cheam seat at the 2015 general election. The constituency is part of the borough in which he had been a councillor. Scully defeated the Liberal Democrat incumbent, Paul Burstow, who had represented the seat since 1997, and was elected as its Member of Parliament (MP).[5] Scully was re-elected at the 2017 general election.[6]
In September 2017, he was appointed as the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Brunei, Thailand and Burma, and was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Baroness Evans, the Leader of the House of Lords between November 2017 and January 2018. He is "very proud" of his Burmese heritage.[16] In a parliamentary debate on 22 October 2015, he stated, "I am, I believe, the first Member of the British Parliament to be of Burmese heritage."[17]
He visited Myanmar for the first time in February 2016.[18] He has been active in human rights issues in Burma, especially the Rohingya refugee situation and is the Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Burma. He has written about his experience of being one of the first British MPs to visit the Kutupalong refugee camp during the 2017 mass movement.[19]
He campaigned for a Leave vote in the 2016 EU referendum,[20][21] and was a supporter of the campaign group Leave Means Leave.[22]
In May 2016, it was reported that Scully was one of a number of Conservative MPs being investigated by police in the United Kingdom general election, 2015 party spending investigation, for allegedly spending more than the legal limit on constituency election campaign expenses.[23] In May 2017, the Crown Prosecution Service said that, while there was evidence of inaccurate spending returns, it did not "meet the test" for further action.[24]
In June 2017, comments made by Scully at an election hustings event and on a regional BBC politics programme relating to building a new hospital in Sutton were criticised by health campaigners as representing an acceptance of closing some existing local medical facilities, such as the St Helier Hospital. Scully said that he was still committed to retaining facilities at the St Helier Hospital, where he had previously volunteered.[25]
On 15 December 2017, Scully was confirmed as the Conservative Party's new Vice Chairman for London, following the sacking of Stephen Hammond two days earlier for his failure to vote with the Government on a key vote relating to the United Kingdom departing the European Union.[26] He helped manage the Conservative Party's campaign in the 2018 London local elections, in which the party registered its lowest-ever number of seats in the capital, but made a number of gains on Sutton Council.[27]
Scully was re-elected in Sutton and Cheam at the 2019 general election, albeit on a slightly reduced vote share.[28]
In February 2020, Scully joined the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets, succeeding Kelly Tolhurst. He was also appointed to the position of Minister for London, succeeding Chris Philp.
In July 2021, in response to a question about vaccine passports, Scully described himself as a libertarian conservative.[29]
On 22 October 2021, Scully talked out a bill which would outlaw the practice of sacking employees and hiring them back on worse terms and conditions, which resulted in the bill failing. Scully said that he did not disagree with the intent of the bill, but did not think it was the best means to achieve it. He said: "The unambiguous message is that bully-boy tactics of fire-and-rehire, for use as a negotiating tactic, is absolutely inappropriate."[30]
On 7 July 2022, he was appointed a Minister at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as part of the caretaker government by outgoing Prime Minister Johnson, succeeding Kemi Badenoch.[31] Scully remained in this role and as Minister for London in the Truss ministry.[32] In October 2022, under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Scully was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy.[2] He also remained in his post as Minister for London.[33] He was removed from both ministerial roles in the November 2023 British cabinet reshuffle.[34][35]
On 11 June 2023, Scully applied for, but failed to make the shortlist for the 2024 London mayoral election.[36]
Personal life edit
Scully is divorced and has two grown-up children.[37][better source needed]
References edit
- ^ .
- ^ a b "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ "Rishi Sunak's reshuffle: David Cameron makes surprise return as foreign secretary - here's who is in and out of cabinet". Sky News. 13 November 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
- ^ "Scully replaces Hammond as Party Vice-Chair for London". Conservative Home. 16 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Conservative Paul Scully elected to Sutton and Cheam after defeating Lib Dem Paul Burstow" (Sutton Guardian, 8 May 2015). .
- ^ a b Sutton & Cheam Parliamentary constituency (BBC News).
- ^ "MP pauses ministerial role to run as London mayor". BBC News. 18 May 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
- ^ Penna, Dominic; Hope, Christopher (11 June 2023). "Frontrunner in Tory London mayor race fails to make the shortlist". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ "SCULLY, Paul Stuart", Who's Who 2016, A & C Black.
- ^ "About Paul". Personal website. 6 January 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- ^ HC Deb, 22 January 2018 vol 635 c1WH (Hansard).
- ^ "Sutton Council Election Results 1964–2010" (PDF). Plymouth University. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- ^ "Sutton council website" (London Borough of Sutton, 21 January 2018)
- ^ "Sutton Council Election Results 1964–2010" (PDF). Plymouth University. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- ^ "About Paul". Party website. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- ^ "British MP-Elect ‘Proud’ of Burma Heritage" (The Irrawaddy, 13 May 2015). .
- ^ HC Deb, 22 October 2015 vol 600 c1263 (Hansard).
- ^ "British MP traces family footsteps in first-ever Myanmar visit" (Coconuts Yangon, 15 February 2016). .
- ^ "The refugees trapped in no man’s land" (The Times, 21 September 2017).
- ^ "EU referendum: Six 2015 Conservative MPs back leaving EU" (BBC News, 4 January 2016). .
- ^ "Paul Scully: I'll be voting to leave the undemocratic, bureaucratic EU" (YouTube, 29 April 2016).
- ^ Leave Means Leave: Who We Are. .
- ^ "Election Expenses Exposed". Channel 4 News. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- ^ "Sutton and Cheam MP Paul Scully will not be prosecuted over Conservative's undeclared election spending". Sutton Guardian. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- ^ "Video: Conservative candidate for Sutton and Cheam, Paul Scully's 'third hospital' plans stoke campaigners' fears of Epsom and St Helier closures". Epsom Guardian. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- ^ "Scully replaces Hammond as Party Vice-Chair for London" (ConservativeHome), 16 December 2017).
- ^ "By-election results 2018". Local Government Association. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- ^ "Sutton & Cheam parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
- ^ Sparrow, Andrew (20 July 2021). "UK Covid live news: minister stresses people pinged by NHS app can choose not to isolate". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- ^ Walker, Peter (22 October 2021). "Anger as ministers block 'fire and rehire' bill in Commons". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
- ^ "Ministerial appointments: July 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- ^ Weakley, Kirsty (28 October 2022). "Paul Scully leaves DLUHC". Local Government Chronicle (LGC). Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ Joshi, Jitendra (16 November 2023). "Former Tory Party chairman Greg Hands becomes minister for London after Paul Scully ousted". Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ Simister, George (14 November 2023). "Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy Paul Scully sacked". UK Tech News. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
- ^ Lydall, Ross (11 June 2023). "Shock as 'frontrunner' MP fails to make Tory mayoral candidate shortlist". Evening Standard. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
- ^ "Register of Members Interests 2016–17". Parliament. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
External links edit
- Official website
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
- Paul Scully on Twitter
- Paul Scully's channel on YouTube