Paul Alexander Cyril Goodman (born 17 November 1959) is an English journalist and

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politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wycombe from

2001 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, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

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, during which time he was a Shadow Minister shadowing the Department for Communities and Local Government. He is now the editor of the centre-right political blog

ConservativeHome ConservativeHome is a British right-wing blog which supports, but is independent of, the Conservative Party. It was first established by Tim Montgomerie in 2005 with the aim of arguing for a broad conservative spectrum, which is serious about bot ...

Biography

Paul Goodman was born the son of Jewish parents in London, and converted to

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in his mid-twenties. He was raised in

East Sheen East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its long high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic hub for Mort ...

, and was educated at the Cranleigh School, Surrey before attending the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

in 1981. He was Chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students between 1983 and 1984, and was a member of the National Union of Students Executive during the two previous years. In 1977 he worked for a year as a researcher to the Conservative MP at Petersfield, Michael Mates. In 1983 he was the chairman for the

Federation of Conservative Students The Federation of Conservative Students (FCS) was the student organisation of the British Conservative Party from the late 1940s to 1986. It was created to act as a bridge between the student movement and the Conservative Party. It produced sever ...

, and was appointed as a director of public affairs at Extel Consultancy in 1984, before becoming a researcher for two years to Tom King, the

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

and MP for

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

in 1985. He was a briefly a member of the policy unit at the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

Council in 1988 before training as a

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monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

Quarr Abbey Quarr Abbey ( French: ''Abbaye Notre-Dame de Quarr'') is a monastery between the villages of Binstead and Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight in southern England. The name is pronounced as "Kwor" (rhyming with "for"). It belongs to the Catho ...

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. He left the abbey in 1990 to take up the position of

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editor with the '' Catholic Herald'', before becoming a lead writer with ''

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'' in 1991, moving to be a reporter with ''The Sunday Telegraph'' in 1992, before returning to ''The Daily Telegraph'' as a comment editor in 1995, remaining as a leader writer since his election to

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

. He was elected to the House of Commons for Wycombe in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

at the 2001 general election following the retirement of Ray Whitney. Goodman held Wycombe with a majority of 3,168 and remained the MP there until the 2010 general election. He made his maiden speech on 27 June 2001, in which he recalled the former Prime Minister

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

who had once contested his seat. In parliament he served on the Work and Pensions

Select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system), a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues *Select or special committee (United States Congress) *Select ...

2001–5. He also served for a year as the

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 ...

to the Chairman of the Conservative Party David Davis from 2001, and was promoted to the

frontbench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kno ...

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005. He previously held cabinet posi ...

in 2003 as a spokesman on work and pensions. On

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

becoming Conservative leader in 2005, Paul Goodman was made a spokesman on

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

matters. On 5 June 2009, amidst the uncertainty caused by the parliamentary expenses scandal, he announced in the ''

Bucks Free Press The ''Bucks Free Press'' is a weekly local newspaper, published every Friday and covering the area surrounding High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It was first published on 19 December 1856. It covers news for south Buckinghamshire - focus ...

'' that he would not be standing for Parliament at the next general election. He said "a House in which professional politics predominates, entrenching and empowering a taxpayer-dependent political class distinct and separate from those who elect them...for better or worse, this future Commons isn't for me".

Personal life

He has been married to Fiona Mary Ann Gill since 1999 and they have a son, named Daniel.

Publication

* ''Healthy Choices'' by Paul Goodman, John Redwood and Angela Watkinson, 2002

References

External links

Wycombe Conservatives
constituency site
BBC News – Paul Goodman
profile 30 March 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Paul Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Alumni of the University of York People educated at Cranleigh School 1959 births Living people English Jews Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism English Roman Catholics Politicians from London Jewish British politicians