About Paul Holmes MP

Member of Parliament for Chesterfield since 2001

Paul Holmes was elected chairman of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party in 2005 and is Shadow Minister for Housing.

Paul was born in Sheffield and was brought up on a council estate in the city. He attended Prince Edward Primary School, Manor Top, Sheffield, and then Firth Park Secondary school until 1975.

The first in his family to go to university he got a history degree from the University of York in 1978 and then went to the University of Sheffield to do a post-graduate Certificate in Education. On qualification as a History Teacher in 1979, he taught at Chesterfield Boys School, before moving to teach at Buxton Community School in September 1984. For many years at Buxton Community School Paul was Head of Sixth Form.

He joined the Social Democratic Party in 1983 and was elected as Chesterfield Borough councillor for Brimington Ward in 1987 until 1995, and then elected as a Chesterfield Borough councillor for Walton Ward in 1999, serving until 2003.

Paul has lived in Chesterfield more than 25 years. His Parliamentary interests are education, disability, human rights and international development. In the 2001-2005 Parliament Paul was a member of the Education and Skills Select Committee, the Lib Dem spokesperson for people with disabilities, and a Friend of UNICEF in the Commons.

Re-elected in the General Election is 2005, Paul continues on the Education and Skills Select Committee, and in 2007 was appointed Shadow Minister for Housing.

Paul's personal interests are history, literature and walking in the Peak District. He is married with three children, and says he is passionately committed to the life chances that education offers.