Paul Robert Holmes (born 16 January 1957) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, previously held by

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and political activist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabine ...

, from

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Early life

He grew up in Sheffield on a council estate. He went to Prince Edward Primary School, Manor Top, then Firth Park Secondary School (now Firth Park Community Arts College), a comprehensive from 1969 (when he was 12).

Career

Holmes graduated in History from the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

in 1978 and before being elected an MP, was a history teacher for 22 years. He gained a PGCE from the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

. He taught from 1979 to 1984 at Chesterfield School (now Brookfield Community School), then Buxton College from 1984–90, and from 1990–2001 he was Head of Sixth Form at Buxton Community School (the successor to Buxton College).

Political career

Holmes joined the SDP in 1983. From 1987 to 1995, representing the Liberal Democrats, he was a councillor for Brimington South Ward, then from 1999 to 2003 for Walton ward on Chesterfield Borough Council. Holmes is currently the lead councillor for the opposition on Chesterfield Borough Council and is a councillor for Barrow Hill and New Whittington ward.

Parliamentary career

His election as chairman of the parliamentary party in 2005 was a surprise to many, since it came at the expense of incumbent chairman Matthew Taylor (a close friend of then Liberal Democrat leader

Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 19591 June 2015) was a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 to 2015. Kennedy wa ...

). Commentators attributed the result to dissatisfaction with some elements of Kennedy's leadership and a belief amongst MPs that the role of party chairman should be more that of a

backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...

s' 'shop steward' and less under the influence of the leadership. Holmes, not yet an MP, supported

Simon Hughes Sir Simon Henry Ward Hughes (born 17 May 1951) is a British former politician. He is now the Chancellor of London South Bank University, and a strategic adviser to Talgo, a Spanish manufacturer of trains. Hughes was deputy leader of the Lib ...

in the leadership election following

Paddy Ashdown Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon (27 February 194122 December 2018), better known as Paddy Ashdown, was a British politician and diplomat who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1999. Internation ...

's retirement in 1999. At the 2005 party conference, he voted against plans by the leadership to support capping the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

budget at 1% of GDP and to privatise the

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

(and was on the winning side in both votes). However, he publicly declared himself to be in full support of Kennedy's leadership following rumours that Hughes was planning a leadership challenge. In the leadership election caused by the resignation of

, Paul Holmes took on the role of chair to

' leadership campaign Holmes was a member of the House of Commons Education & Skills Select Committee from 2001 to 2007, but stood down from the Committee in July 2007 to concentrate on his appointment as Shadow Minister for Housing. Previously Holmes had been a Spokesman on Disability (2001–2005), Work and Pensions (2002–2005) and Arts and Heritage (2006–2007). In December 2007 he returned to the back benches, being one of only two MPs in the party to lose their shadow cabinet responsibilities in the reshuffle following

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British retired politician and media executive who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. H ...

's election as Liberal Democrat leader. Holmes hit the headlines in March 2008 when he was the only Liberal Democrat MP to sign an Early Day Motion praising

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

at the time of his resignation. He was quoted on the BBC as saying "It is true Cuba has political prisoners and no free elections, but it has very good dentistry." Holmes was the Liberal Democrat Shadow Minister for Justice and sat on the Children, Families and Schools Select Committee. Holmes is a founding member of the centre-left

Beveridge Group The Beveridge Group is a centre-left group within the Liberal Democrat party in the UK. It was set up in 2001 by MPs Alistair Carmichael, Paul Holmes, John Barrett and John Pugh to promote debate within the party regarding public service ...

within the Liberal Democrats. He is also an Honorary Associate of the

National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. The Soc ...

and a Distinguished Supporter of

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent Irreligion in the United Kingdom, non-religious people in the UK throug ...

, and was also a vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, before his defeat in the 2010 general election.

Personal life

In 1978 he married Raelene Palmer. His children were born and brought up in Chesterfield.

References

External links

Paul Holmes MP
profile at the site of Liberal Democrats *

* ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/paul_holmes/chesterfield TheyWorkForYou.com – Paul Holmes MP
The Public Whip – Paul Holmes MP
voting record
BBC News – Paul Holmes
profile 10 February 2005
BBC News – New Lib Dem chairman
Interview of Paul Holmes 14 July 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Paul 1957 births Alumni of the University of York Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people Politicians from Sheffield People from Chesterfield, Derbyshire UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Alumni of the University of Sheffield