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Paul Scully

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For the Australian politician, see Paul Scully (Australian politician).

Paul Scully
Official portrait, 2020
Minister for London
In office
13 February 2020 – 13 November 2023
Prime Minister
Preceded byChris Philp
Succeeded byGreg Hands
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Tech and the Digital Economy
In office
27 October 2022 – 13 November 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byDamian Collins
Succeeded bySaqib Bhatti
Minister of State for Local Government and Building Safety
In office
8 July 2022 – 27 October 2022
Prime Minister
Preceded byKemi Badenoch
Succeeded byLee Rowley
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets
In office
13 February 2020 – 8 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byKelly Tolhurst
Succeeded byJane Hunt
Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party
In office
26 July 2019 – 13 February 2020
LeaderBoris Johnson
Preceded byHelen Whately
Succeeded byRanil Jayawardena
Member of Parliament
for Sutton and Cheam
In office
7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byPaul Burstow
Succeeded byLuke Taylor
Personal details
Born
Paul Stuart Scully

(1968-04-29) 29 April 1968 (age 56)
Rugby, Warwickshire, England[1]
Political partyConservative (since 1997)
Alma materUniversity of Reading
Websitewww.scully.org.uk

Paul Stuart Scully (born 29 April 1968) is a former British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sutton and Cheam from 2015 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he 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]

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region from 2017 to 2019, having been appointed by Theresa May to replace Stephen Hammond who had the Conservative whip withdrawn for rebelling against the government over the EU withdrawal bill.[4][5][6] After Boris Johnson was appointed prime minister in July 2019, Scully was promoted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] but failed to even make the shortlist.[8]

Early life

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Scully was born in Rugby on 29 April 1968. His father's family was originally from Burma. He was privately educated at Bedford School. He later studied at 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, and had previously voted for the Referendum Party.[11]

Political career

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Local government

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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

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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 elected with 41.5% of the vote and a majority of 3,921.[16][17]

In a parliamentary debate on 22 October 2015, Scully stated, "I am, I believe, the first Member of the British Parliament to be of Burmese heritage."[18] He is reportedly "very proud" of his Burmese heritage.[19]

He visited Myanmar for the first time in February 2016.[20] 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.[21]

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.[22] 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.[23]

Scully campaigned for a Leave vote in the 2016 EU referendum,[24][25] and was a supporter of the campaign group Leave Means Leave.[26]

At the snap 2017 general election, Scully was re-elected with an increased vote share of 51.1% and a majority of 12,698.[27][28]

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.[29]

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.

Scully as Trade Envoy meets the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah while on a trade visit to Brunei (November 2018)

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.[30] 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.[31]

At the 2019 general election, Scully was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 50% and a decreased majority 8,351.[32][33]

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.[34]

On 22 October 2021, Scully filibustered 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."[35]

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.[36] Scully remained in this role and as Minister for London in the Truss ministry.[37] 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.[38] He was removed from both ministerial roles in the November 2023 British cabinet reshuffle.[39][40]

On 11 June 2023, Scully applied for, but failed to make the shortlist for the 2024 London mayoral election.[41]

In February 2024, Scully was accused of Islamophobia after he made unsubstantiated claims about the existence of "no-go areas" in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and the Sparkhill district of Birmingham, both of which have large Muslim populations. He subsequently apologised for the comments.[42]

In March 2024, Scully announced that he would not seek re-election as MP for Sutton and Cheam at the next general election.[43]

Personal life

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Scully is divorced and has two grown-up children.[44]

References

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  1. ^ MyParliament.
  2. ^ a b "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ "Scully replaces Hammond as Party Vice-Chair for London". Conservative Home. 16 December 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Conservative Paul Scully elected to Sutton and Cheam after defeating Lib Dem Paul Burstow" (Sutton Guardian, 8 May 2015). Archived copy.
  6. ^ Sutton & Cheam Parliamentary constituency (BBC News).
  7. ^ "MP pauses ministerial role to run as London mayor". BBC News. 18 May 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  8. ^ Penna, Dominic; Hope, Christopher (11 June 2023). "Frontrunner in Tory London mayor race fails to make the shortlist". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  9. ^ "SCULLY, Paul Stuart", Who's Who 2016, A & C Black.
  10. ^ "About Paul". Personal website. 6 January 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  11. ^ HC Deb, 22 January 2018 vol 635 c1WH (Hansard).
  12. ^ "Sutton Council Election Results 1964–2010" (PDF). Plymouth University. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  13. ^ "Sutton council website" (London Borough of Sutton, 21 January 2018)
  14. ^ "Sutton Council Election Results 1964–2010" (PDF). Plymouth University. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  15. ^ "About Paul". Party website. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  16. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Election Results - Sutton Council". Archived from the original on 15 May 2015.
  18. ^ HC Deb, 22 October 2015 vol 600 c1263 (Hansard).
  19. ^ "British MP-Elect ‘Proud’ of Burma Heritage" (The Irrawaddy, 13 May 2015). Archived copy.
  20. ^ "British MP traces family footsteps in first-ever Myanmar visit" (Coconuts Yangon, 15 February 2016). Archived copy.
  21. ^ "The refugees trapped in no man’s land" (The Times, 21 September 2017).
  22. ^ "Election Expenses Exposed". Channel 4 News. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  23. ^ "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.
  24. ^ "EU referendum: Six 2015 Conservative MPs back leaving EU" (BBC News, 4 January 2016). Archived copy.
  25. ^ "Paul Scully: I'll be voting to leave the undemocratic, bureaucratic EU" (YouTube, 29 April 2016).
  26. ^ Leave Means Leave: Who We Are. Archived copy.
  27. ^ "Sutton & Cheam parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  28. ^ Research briefing [dead link‍]
  29. ^ "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.
  30. ^ "Scully replaces Hammond as Party Vice-Chair for London" (ConservativeHome), 16 December 2017).
  31. ^ "By-election results 2018". Local Government Association. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  32. ^ Council, Sutton. "Statement of Persons Nominated & Notice of Poll - Sutton & Cheam 2019 | Sutton Council". www.sutton.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  33. ^ "Sutton & Cheam parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  34. ^ 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.
  35. ^ Walker, Peter (22 October 2021). "Anger as ministers block 'fire and rehire' bill in Commons". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  36. ^ "Ministerial appointments: July 2022". GOV.UK. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  37. ^ "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  38. ^ Weakley, Kirsty (28 October 2022). "Paul Scully leaves DLUHC". Local Government Chronicle (LGC). Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  39. ^ 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.
  40. ^ Simister, George (14 November 2023). "Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy Paul Scully sacked". UK Tech News. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  41. ^ Lydall, Ross (11 June 2023). "Shock as 'frontrunner' MP fails to make Tory mayoral candidate shortlist". Evening Standard. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  42. ^ Badshah, Nadeem (26 February 2024). "Tory MP Paul Scully claims there are 'no-go' areas in Birmingham and London". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  43. ^ Burford, Rachael (4 March 2024). "Ex London minister Paul Scully to quit as Tory MP before general election". Evening Standard. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  44. ^ "Register of Members Interests 2016–17". Parliament. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Scully.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Sutton and Cheam
2015–2024 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party
2019–2020 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for London
2020–2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets
2020–2022 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of State for Local Government and Building Safety
2022–2023 		Succeeded by
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