Paul Gordon Clark (born 29 April 1957) is a British Labour Party politician who was the

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 bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Gillingham from 1997 to 2010. During his time in government, Paul Clark served as

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 Derry Irvine, Charles Falconer,

John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he w ...

, and

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British broadcaster, writer, economist, professor and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exc ...

, before being promoted in 2008 to the role of

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister o ...

at the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

. At the 2010 general election Clark was defeated by the Conservative Party candidate

Rehman Chishti Atta-Ur-Rehman Chishti (born 4 October 1978) is a Pakistani-born British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gillingham and Rainham since 2010. He served under Theresa May as both the Vice Chair of the ...

in the newly formed constituency of Gillingham and Rainham. In 2022, Paul Clark pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing indecent images of children.

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 Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

in 1980. At university he became a sabbatical officer as Student Union Secretary. Later he studied for a diploma in management studies at the

University of Derby , mottoeng = Experience is the best teacher , established = 1851 – Teacher Training College1992 – gained university status , type = Public , chancellor = William Cavendish, Ear ...

in 1997. In 2011 Paul Clark was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of Greenwich The University of Greenwich is a public university located in London and Kent, United Kingdom. Previous names include Woolwich Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic. The university's main campus is at the Old Royal Naval College, which along with it ...

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 A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

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 The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) was a British trade union. It merged with the MSF to form Amicus in 2001. History The union was founded in 1992, when the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) finally achieved a merger w ...

and then the TUC. After being elected in 1997 Paul Clark was PPS to

Lord Irvine of Lairg Alexander Andrew Mackay Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg, (born 23 June 1940), known as Derry Irvine, is a Scottish lawyer, judge and political figure who served as Lord Chancellor under his former pupil barrister, Tony Blair. Education Irvine wa ...

, the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

, then PPS to

Lord Falconer of Thoroton Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, (born 19 November 1951) is a British Labour peer and barrister who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2003 to 2007. Born in ...

in the Department for Transport and later the Home Office. Clark was finally promoted to the Whips' office between 2003 and 2005. After the 2005 election he became PPS to deputy prime minister

until 2007, then PPS to

in the

Department for Children, Schools and Families Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education. DCSF was replac ...

. In October 2008 he was promoted to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the

Department of Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

, 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. In 2017, Clark released a statement stating that he would not be running in the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

Notes

References

External links

Gateway associates website *
ePolitix - Paul Clark
official site

TheyWorkForYou.com - Paul Clark MP

BBC Politics page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Paul 1957 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Alumni of Keele University Alumni of the University of Derby People from Gillingham, Kent Councillors in Kent People educated at Gillingham Grammar School, Kent