The third contestant was 64-year-old Borlase Matthews, standing as a National Independent and Agricultural candidate. He was Liberal candidate at Henley for the 1931 general election, the 1932 Henley by-election, at Ashford for the 1935 general election, and at the 1937 Tonbridge by-election. He was an engineer but left engineering to take up farming. He was a Member of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society. He was a Member of the Electricity Commissioners Rural Electrification Conference. He was Chairman of the Rural Reconstruction Association. He was also an author of several books and papers on farming. Matthews supported Churchill's Coalition government but felt that it was too dominated by the Conservatives and wanted it to be more progressive in nature.