Paul Howell (born 10 January 1960) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by ...

since 2019. Prior to his political career, he was an accountant.

Early life and career

Howell was born in Bishop Auckland Hospital in County Durham. He was raised in

Ferryhill Ferryhill is a town in County Durham, England, with an estimated population in 2018 of 9,362. The town grew in the 1900s around the coal mining industry. The last mine officially closed in 1968. It is located between the towns of Bishop Auckla ...

and Newton Aycliffe and attended Dean Bank and Sugar Hill primary schools and The Avenue Comprehensive School. His father was a divisional fire officer. After leaving school, he worked as a chartered accountant for firms such as Darchem, Blue Circle Industries, and Wilsonart.

Political career

Howell joined the Conservative Party in 2010. He was a councillor for Hummersknott ward on the Darlington Borough Council between 2019 and 2021. He was also a councillor for Aycliffe North and Middridge on the

Durham County Council Durham County Council is a local authority administering all significant local government functions in the unitary authority area of County Durham in North East England. The council area covers part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, ...

between 2017 and 2021. He was elected as MP for

at the 2019 general election with a majority of 4,513 (10.9%). The constituency had previously been represented by a Labour Party MP since the 1935 general election including former PM

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of the ...

who represented the constituency between 1983 and 2007. He had previously contested

Houghton and Sunderland South Houghton and Sunderland South () is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its creation in 2010 by Bridget Phillipson of the Labour Party. In the 2010 and 2015 general elections, it was the first cons ...

seat as the Conservative candidate in the 2017 general election. Howell has been a member of the Transport Select Committee since November 2022 and was a member of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee between March 2020 and October 2022. On 14 June 2022, Howell became a

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. On 15 November 2022, during an Opposition Day debate on ministerial severance pay, Howell accused Labour of scaremongering over the September 2022 mini-budget citing the greater economic impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and argued that it was the decision of individuals on whether to take their severance payments. After Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Labour MP

Lisa Nandy Lisa Eva Nandy (born 9 August 1979) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Wigan since 2010. ...

asked for his view on severance payments, Howell replied, "What do I think? I think it depends on the individual. The hon. Lady has chirped and talked... Do you want to hear, or do you want to shut up?", which left Nandy and fellow Labour MPs Sarah Owen and Paula Barker on the opposition frontbench shocked. He immediately apologised for his comments.

Personal life

Howell owns a property portfolio consisting of nine houses in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington under ...

, five houses in Durham and two flats in County Durham.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howell, Paul (politician) 1960 births Living people UK MPs 2019–present Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Sedgefield