Since 2010, Paul has served as the District Councillor for the Hemswell Ward. He is a local boy, brought up in Corringham and Gainsborough. He attended the University of Kent in Canterbury and went on to do post-graduate studies at Durham University. His whole life was spent in education and latterly lecturing at Bishop Grosseteste University. Lincoln.
Having a passionate interest in heritage he has been Chairman of the Friends of Gainsborough Old Hall for the past twenty years. Besides his interest in historic buildings, he is currently Chairman of the Charles Cooper Almshouse Trust, a trustee of the Gainsborough Relief in Sickness Charity and recently of the Willingham Relief in Sickness Charity.
People matter to him. Paul regularly gives talks in the locality and further afield on heritage subjects. He is churchwarden of St Laurence’s Church Corringham and Chair of the West Lindsey Churches Festival.
He was married to Anne Howitt who had a driving school for thirty years but died of breast cancer in 2006. He has an abiding interest in antiques, reading biographies, visiting stately homes and churches and Cathedrals and in the English Choral tradition. ‘Small is beautiful’ and ‘Local is Best’ sums up his approach and deeply proud of the nine communities he currently represents. As Paul says:
"I have appreciated the steep learning curve and the privilege of serving the Hemswell Ward, it has been a wonderful journey!"