Paul Clark (politician)

Paul Clark
File:PaulClarkOfficialPhoto.jpg
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
In office 5 October 2008 – 6 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Tom Harris
Succeeded by	Norman Baker
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister
In office 6 May 2005 – 27 June 2007
Appointed by	John Prescott
Preceded by	David Watts
Succeeded by	Norman Lamb
Member of Parliament for Gillingham
In office 1 May 1997 – 12 April 2010
Preceded by	James Couchman
Succeeded by	Constituency Abolished
Majority	254 (0.6%)
Personal details
Born	(1957-04-29) 29 April 1957 Gillingham, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Julie Clark; 2 children
Residence	Gillingham, England
Alma mater	Keele University, University of Derby
a. ^ Office vacant from 27 June 2007 to 12 May 2010.

Paul Gordon Clark (born 29 April 1957) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gillingham from 1997 to 2010. During his time in government Paul Clark served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Derry Irvine, Charles Falconer, John Prescott, and Ed Balls, before being promoted in 2008 to the role of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport. In the 2010 election Clark was defeated by the Conservative candidate Rehman Chishti in the newly formed constituency of Gillingham and Rainham.

Education

Clark was educated at Featherby Infants and Junior Schools and Gillingham Grammar School. He went on to gain a BA in economics and politics at Keele University in 1980. At university he became a sabbatical officer as vice president. Later he studied for a diploma in management studies at the University of Derby in 1997. In 2011 Paul Clark was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Greenwich.

Career

Paul Clark first became MP for Gillingham in the Labour landslide in the 1997 general election where he overturned a conservative majority of 16,638. He had two further successful campaigns for Parliament in 2001 and 2005. Before becoming MP for Gillingham he had been on Gillingham Borough Council from 1982 until 1990 as a Labour councillor. From 1983 until 1989 he was deputy leader of the local party, and was elected leader in 1989. In 1990 he was elected by the Gillingham Labour Party to stand as the parliamentary candidate. His career prior to becoming an MP was with the AEEU and then the TUC.

After being elected in 1997 Paul Clark was PPS to Lord Irvine of Lairg, the Lord Chancellor, then PPS to Lord Falconer of Thoroton in the Department for Transport and later the Home Office. Clark was finally promoted to the Whips' office between 2003-05. After the 2005 election he became PPS to deputy prime minister John Prescott until 2007, then PPS to Ed Balls in the Department for Children, Schools and Families. In October 2008 he was promoted to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Transport, where his responsibilities included international networks, road safety and motoring and freight services agencies.

Since leaving Parliament Paul Clark has established Gateway Associates, a company which draws on the skills and experience of policy, government and communications experts to help organisations from a variety of industries and sectors communicate with Westminster and Whitehall and inform Central Government’s decision making processes.

In 2013 Paul Clark was selected by Gillingham and Rainham Labour Party as PPC for the 2015 general election.

Personal life

Paul married Julie Hendrick in 1980. They have a daughter Rachel and a son James.

External links

• [1] Gateway associates website
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Paul Clark
• ePolitix - Paul Clark official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Paul Clark MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Paul Clark MP
• BBC Politics page

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by James Couchman	Member of Parliament for Gillingham 1997–2010	Constituency abolished see Gillingham & Rainham