Constituency : Chesterfield 2001-2010
Paul scored the most eye-catching Liberal Democrat victory when he took Chesterfield from Labour following the retirement of Tony Benn, helped by Labour's selection of Reg Race, a veteran trade unionist active in the Winter of Discontent.
Paul grew up on a council estate in Sheffield. He was educated at Firth Park Secondary School and York University. He became a history teacher in Chesterfield and Buxton. He joined the SDP in 1983. As I made a brief contribution to the Chesterfield by-election campaign in 1984 it's possible I met him. He became a councillor in 1985.
Paul became spokesman on disability ( 2001-05 ), work and pensions ( 2002-05 and arts and heritage ( 2006-07). In 2007 he became shadow minister for housing but Nick Clegg dropped him after becoming leader. He was a founding member of the Beveridge Group.
In 2005, Paul ousted Matthew Taylor as chair of the parliamentary party. This was taken as a sign of dissatisfaction with Charles Kennedy's leadership among the MPs. He was a close friend of Simon Hughes and supported both his leadership campaigns.
In 2008 Paul attracted controversy by signing an Early Day Motion congratulating Fidel Castro on his retirement.
In 2010, Paul was narrowly defeated by Labour, one of two Labour gains down to Tories forgetting to vote tactically. He was reprimanded by the party for bullying the 2015 candidate Julia Cambridge. He was elected a councillor once more in 2018.
Paul is also active in humanist organisations.
He is now 62.
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