Conservatives in Tony Blair's former constituency of Sedgefield have selected Neil Mahapatra to contest the seat at the next general election.
Aged 29, Neil studied Biological Sciences at Oxford, where he was President of the Union, before embarking on a career in investment banking. He was later a Fulbright scholar at Harvard, where he attained an MBA and was captain of the debating team. He now works for a family investment office specialising in making investments in fast-growing companies in Europe and Africa, whilst on the political front he has experience working for Andrew Mitchell and the shadow DfID team and has twice taken part in Project Umubano in Rwanda.
Sedgefield has been represented for Labour since the 2007 by-election by Phil Wilson, a former aide to Tony Blair, who won that contest with a majority of 6,956 over the Liberal Democrats.
Neil said on his selection:
“It is an honour and a privilege to be selected for Sedgefield, and I will not let the Conservative supporters in the area down. As Tony Blair’s former haunt, the constituency has traditionally been a Labour heartland - that should change: at a time when the North East has been ignored by the Labour party (GDP is lower than anywhere else in the UK), it’s important to help voters in Sedgefield understand that the Conservatives represent a compassionate, viable alternative that can really focus on regenerating the area and creating jobs. I look forward to the campaign.”
Jonathan Isaby