Paul Clark (politician)

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

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 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 and then the TUC.[1]

After being elected in 1997 Paul Clark was PPS to Lord Irvine of Lairg, the Lord Chancellor, then PPS to Lord Falconer of Thoroton 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 John Prescott until 2007, then PPS to Ed Balls in the Department for Children, Schools and Families. In October 2008 he was promoted to Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Transport, 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.[2]

Paul married Julie Hendrick in 1980. They have a daughter Rachel and son James.

• Gateway associates website
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Paul Clark
• ePolitix - Paul Clark official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Paul Clark MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Paul Clark MP
• BBC Politics page