Rebecca Paul has been selected for the new constituency of Reigate, which combines 86 per cent of the current Reigate constituency with 15 per cent of Epsom and Ewell. Currently held by Crispin Blunt, Electoral Calculus currently gives it a 50 per cent chance of remaining Conservative at the next election – next to a 48 per cent one of going to Labour.
Nevertheless, Paul will be pleased to be selected for a seat that remained Conservative in 1997 – and looks as safe as any that is currently on offer. She has been a Conservative councillor for Tadworth, Walton, and Kingsworth ward on Surrey County Council since 2021, and is the Deputy Council Member for Levelling-Up. She has also worked in Parliament for Robin Millar, and in tax management for a number of organisations.
Paul was in the final four along with Aphra Brandreth, the Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Woman’s Organisation, 2019 candidate in Kingston and Surbiton, and former councillor; Jed Dwight, a councillor for Chipstead, Kingswood, and Woodmansterne who both works in conservation and is ‘endorsed’ by Iain Dale; and Benjamin Obese-Jecty, who stood for Hackney North and Stoke Newington and has written for ConservativeHome frequently in the past.
One local Conservative source described the potential candidates as a “strong field”. What helped Paul to success was that she is “well-known and liked locally” and is a “very strong local candidate”. That she was selected, ConservativeHome was told, was “no surprise”.
Paul wrote for ConservativeHome last year, arguing that since “traditional conservative voters no longer want to vote Conservative” in the so-called Blue Wall, “then a return to traditional conservatism may be just what’s needed.” She suggested that the election of Liz Truss provided Conservatives with an opportunity to reconnect with previous voters in Surrey who felt the Tories had abandoned them.
Whilst Truss’s defenestration means we will not see Paul’s thesis in action, ConservativeHome wishes her all the best in fighting Reigate next year. As ever, if you have any information about candidates and selections in your constituency, please contact me at william@conservativehome.com.