Matthew lives in Hendon works for the BBC at Television Centre near Shepherd’s Bush.
He is a keen sailor, both on the Welsh Harp and also off-shore on larger yachts. For the last three years he has taken part with the Welsh Harp’s Seahorse Sailing Club in the Round the Island race off the Isle of Wight. When not on the water Matthew also likes to be under it as he is a keen scuba diver and qualified up to the level of instructor. Over the years he has dived in several Mediterranean countries, the Caribbean, the Maldives, in the English Channel, off the coast of Cornwall and too many quarries and lakes in Lancashire and Cumbria!
He is also an elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and in 2005 undertook a 2,000 km exploration of the Libyan Desert. Travel in general is another of his interests and Matthew has visited many countries including Cyprus, India, Israel, the United States and almost all of the countries which recently joined the EU.
Matthew Offord's Experience
Matthew Offord became involved with the Conservative Party whilst at university in Nottingham in the early 90s, working his way up the voluntary side of the Party until he became Chairman of the Hendon Conservative Association in January 2004. In addition to that he has also worked as an Agent for the Party in numerous campaigns and seats including Barnsley, Nottingham, Leicester, Staffordshire, Liverpool, Carlisle and London.
In 2001, Matthew was selected to fight the safe Labour seat of Barnsley East and Mexborough in South Yorkshire. Targetting a single ward during the campaign the local Conservatives were able to go on and win their first and only Conservative councillor in Doncaster.
Matthew has been a councillor in Hendon since 2002. In addition to being Deputy Leader of Barnet Council he has also the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, Cabinet Member for Investment in Learning and Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Comunikty Engagement. In these roles he has overseen many positive achievements including:
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A 45% reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured on Barnet's roads;
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Tackling the issue of residential burglary;
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An increase in the household recycling rate from 8% to over 30%;
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The aware of 6 Green Flags in the Borough's parks;
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Rebuilding Broadfields and Parkfields Primary schools and refurbishing Burnt Oak Library.
At the 2005 General Election, Matthew acted as the Conservative Election Agent in Hendon and saw the Labour majority cut from 7,417 to 2,699. In July 2007, Matthew was selected by an 'Open Primary' system when almost 300 people from Hendon chose him from a short list.