 Tall, strong featured and bearded, Connell was an eloquent defender of Modernism.He robustly debated this subject with Sir Reginald Blomfield in "For and Against Modern Architecture", a broadcast by BBC radio in 1934 that was also printed in "The Listener".His apolitical and pragmatic position on architecture was regarded with suspicion by the more leftist element in the MARS Group, an organisation that included the Russian architect Berthold Lubetkin.