Paul Burstow

Burstow was born in Carshalton in Surrey, son of a tailor, and was educated at Glastonbury High School for Boys,[1] a former boys' secondary modern school in Carshalton, followed by Carshalton College and the South Bank Polytechnic, where he obtained a degree in business studies. He started his career as a buying assistant with Allied Shoe Repairs in 1985. The following year he worked briefly in print sales with KallKwik Printers, before becoming a research assistant at the London Borough of Hounslow in 1987.

Burstow first contested the Sutton and Cheam Parliamentary seat for the Liberal Democrats at the 1992 General Election. He was defeated by the Conservative Lady Olga Maitland despite achieving one of the largest swings to the Liberal Democrats in London at that election.

He contested the seat again in 1997, this time being elected as its Liberal Democrat MP with a majority of 2,097. Burstow joined several other new Liberal Democrat MPs, for the party gained many other south-west London seats at that election.

He made his maiden speech on 16 May 1997, speaking passionately about the needs of blind and disabled people.[2] On his election, Burstow immediately became a party spokesman on the Environment under Paddy Ashdown. He became the spokesman on Social Security in 1999, on the election of Charles Kennedy as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats.

After the 2001 general election, Burstow became the Health spokesman for the Liberal Democrats. He has been the parliamentary ambassador to the NSPCC since 2001. He was promoted to the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet as the Shadow Secretary of State for Health in 2003. He stepped down from the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet following the 2005 general election, but was appointed as the spokesman on London. On 22 March 2006, Liberal Democrat MPs elected him their Chief Whip.[3]

In 2003, The Guardian described Burstow as "One of the most knowledgeable and effective politicians on older people's issues".[4] He was voted by MPs as older people's champion in the epolitix Charity Champion awards[5] in December 2005.

Burstow introduced the Care of Older and Incapacitated People (Human Rights) Bill in January 2006. It provided proposals to increase the protection of vulnerable adults from abuse and neglect. In 2007, he introduced an Early Day Motion congratulating the National Benevolent Fund for the Aged on its 50th anniversary.[6]

He was appointed Chair of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust from November 2015, and was recently appointed for a second three-year term. He is a Trustee of Action on Smoking and Health.

In 2016 he became a part-time professor of mental health policy at the University of Birmingham where he led a policy commission.[11]

Paul's interest in social care saw him appointed as Chair of the Social Care Institute for Excellence in July 2017 where he has worked to refresh the board of Trustees and develop the organisation's business strategy.[12]

He was appointed as chair of St Andrew's Healthcare in September 2020. [13]

He married Mary Burstow, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Cheam,[14] in 1995; they have a son and two daughters. His interests include cooking, reading, and walking.[7]

• Paul Burstow MP official constituency website
• Profile at the Liberal Democrats
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou