Conservatives have selected Thomas O’Malley as their candidate in Ealing North at next year's General Election.

Mr O'Malley is a councillor in Richmond and a governor of two Catholic state schools, and also lists on his CV that he is a trustee of a charity supporting schools in rural South Africa.

He previously worked for ex Tory leaders John Major and William Hague and now works in the West End advising pension and investment funds on environment, social and governance issues.

Mr O'Malley, who was at Northolt Community Centre on Tuesday (28) to launch his campaign, said: "Next year's election is a choice between a Conservative government that would finish the job of fixing the economy, or a Labour government that would undermine recovery by raising taxes and increasing borrowing."

Ealing North has been held by Labour MP Steve Pound since 1997.

His Tory challenger went on to say that the Coalition had presided over a one third reduction in unemployment in Ealing North since 2010, and youth unemployment down by 40 per cent. He said "every vote for Steve Pound puts Ed Milliband closer to Downing Street".

Conservative candidate for Ealing North, Thomas O'Malley poses for a photo in Northolt
Conservative candidate for Ealing North, Thomas O'Malley poses for a photo in Northolt

Mr O'Malley is married with two young children, and grew up in west London.

He said Ealing North has a "wonderfully diverse community" but accused Labour of having an 'open door immigration policy' while in Government that had "put a strain on that diversity and on local services".

"I shall be holding a series of public meetings and knocking on doors across the constituency over the coming weeks and months," he said.

Steve Pound had a majority of 9,301 at the last election in 2010. The next election will be on May 7, 2015.