British former politician
Paul Kenneth Burstow
(born 13 May 1962) is a British former
politician
who served as the
Liberal Democrat
Member of Parliament
for
Sutton and Cheam
for 18 years, from 1997 to 2015, when he was defeated by
Paul Scully
.
He was appointed Minister of State at the
Department of Health
in May 2010, and served in that position until September 2012.
Early life
[
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]
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.
Politics before parliament
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He was elected as a councillor for the
Social Democratic Party
(SDP) to the
Sutton Borough Council
in 1986, and was its deputy leader from 1994 to 1997. Burstow remained a councillor for the Rosehill ward in Sutton until 2002, after his election to
Parliament
.
In 1988, he joined the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors as a campaigns officer; he then became its political secretary in 1996, where he remained until becoming an MP.
Election and parliamentary career
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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 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 that role he oversaw a number of reforms of the whips operation.
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.
Minister of State
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At the
2010 general election
Burstow was re-elected MP for Sutton and Cheam with a slim majority of 1,608 votes.
[6]
He was then appointed
Minister of State
in the Department of Health in the coalition government. He was responsible for care services and the elderly, long term conditions and mental health. He was responsible for developing the Government's mental health strategy
[7]
and drafting the care provisions of the Care Act.
[8]
Burstow left the government in September 2012, and was succeeded as Care Minister by
Norman Lamb
.
Subsequent career
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Between 2012 and 2015, when he left Parliament, Burstow led a number of influential policy commissions. Working with the think tank Demos
Demos
he led a commission into the future models of residential care for people in later life.
[9]
He was appointed Chair of the
Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
from November 2015 to June 2022. He was also invited to become a Trustee of
Action on Smoking and Health
in 2015 stepping down in 2022.
In 2016 he became a part-time professor of mental health policy at the University of Birmingham where he led a policy commission which made recommendations for a public health approach to improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, Investing in a Resilient Generation.
[10]
Burstow'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, appoint a new Chief Executive and develop the organisation's business strategy and deliver a financial turnaround .
[11]
He was appointed as chair of the charity
St Andrew's Healthcare
in September 2020.
[12]
At the charity he has reshaped and strengthened the Board, appointed a new Chief Executive and promoted collaborative working with NHS mental health providers in the East and West Midlands to address a number of longstanding quality challenges.
In 2022 Burstow was appointed as one of the 42 Integrated Care Board Chairs. He has helped to shape the system partnership across Hertfordshire and West Essex and overseen the appointment of the new Board and is working with local government, NHS and CVFSE partners to develop a 10 year strategy and 5 year joint plan to improve the health and wellbeing of the local population.
Personal life
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He married
Mary Burstow
, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Cheam,
[13]
in 1995; they have a son and two daughters. His interests include cooking, reading, and walking.
[6]
References
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External links
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