View source for Paul Goodman, Baron Goodman of Wycombe

{{Short description|British journalist and politician (born 1959)}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{BLP sources|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Lord Goodman of Wycombe
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Official portrait of Lord Goodman of Wycombe crop 2.jpg
| caption =Official portrait, 2024
| office = [[Member of the House of Lords]]<br />[[Lord Temporal]]
| term_start = 11 March 2024<br />[[Life peer]]age
| constituency_MP1 = [[Wycombe (UK Parliament constituency)|Wycombe]]
| parliament1 =
| term_start1 = 7 June 2001
| term_end1 = 12 April 2010
| majority1 =
| predecessor1 = [[Ray Whitney (politician)|Ray Whitney]]
| successor1 = [[Steve Baker (politician)|Steve Baker]]
| birth_name = Paul Alexander Cyril Goodman
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1959|11|17}}
| birth_place = [[London]], England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| spouse = Fiona Mary Ann Gill
| party = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
| relations =
| children =
| residence = High Wycombe
| alma_mater = [[University of York]]
| occupation = Politician and Journalist
| profession =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Paul Alexander Cyril Goodman, Baron Goodman of Wycombe''' (born 17 November 1959) is an English journalist and [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Wycombe (UK Parliament constituency)|Wycombe]] from [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001]] to [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]], during which time he was a Shadow Minister shadowing the [[Department for Communities and Local Government]]. In 2024, Goodman was elevated to the [[House of Lords]] by [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Rishi Sunak]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Peter |date=2024-02-09 |title=Major Tory donor among 13 new peers named in honours list |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/09/major-tory-donor-among-13-new-peers-named-in-honours-list |access-date=2024-02-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
From 2013 to 2024, Goodman served as editor of the centre-right political blog ''[[ConservativeHome]]''.<ref name="blogs.com">{{cite web|url=http://conservativehome.blogs.com/resources/2010/06/introducing-paul-goodman.html|title=Conservative Home|publisher=Conservativehome.blogs.com|accessdate=12 June 2015}}</ref> His work on the blog earned him a reputation for wielding significant influence over the Conservative Party, the centre-left ''[[New Statesman]]'' magazine calling him the "authoritative commentator or Tory politics" and the 28th most powerful right-wing figure in Britain.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Statesman |first=New |date=2023-09-27 |title=The New Statesman's right power list |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2023/09/the-new-statesmans-right-power-list |access-date=2023-12-14 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Early life==
Paul Goodman was born the son of [[Judaism|Jewish]] parents in [[London]], and converted to [[Roman Catholicism]] in his mid-twenties.<ref>[http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/all/5879893/part_2/the-romance-of-islam.thtml] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417141632/http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/all/5879893/part_2/the-romance-of-islam.thtml|date=17 April 2010}}</ref> He was raised in [[East Sheen]], and was privately educated at the [[Cranleigh School]], Surrey before attending the [[University of York]] where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in [[English literature]] in 1981. He was Chairman of the Federation of Conservative Students between 1983 and 1984, and was a member of the National Union of Students Executive during the two previous years.<ref name="blogs.com" />
==Political career==
In 1977 he worked for a year as a researcher for [[Michael Mates]], the Conservative MP for [[Petersfield (UK Parliament constituency)|Petersfield]]. In 1983 he was the chairman for the [[Federation of Conservative Students]], and was appointed as a director of [[Public administration|public affairs]] at Extel Consultancy in 1984, before becoming a researcher for two years to [[Tom King, Baron King of Bridgwater|Tom King]], the [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]] and MP for [[Bridgwater (UK Parliament constituency)|Bridgwater]], in 1985. He was a briefly a member of the policy unit at the [[City of Westminster]] Council in 1988 before training as a [[novitiate|novice]] [[monk]] at [[Quarr Abbey]] in [[Ryde]] on the [[Isle of Wight]]. He left the abbey in 1990 to take up the position of [[news]] editor with the ''[[Catholic Herald]]'', before becoming a lead writer with ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' in 1991, moving to be a reporter with ''The Sunday Telegraph'' in 1992, before returning to ''The Daily Telegraph'' as a comment editor in 1995, remaining as a leader writer since his election to [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]].
He was elected to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] for Wycombe in [[Buckinghamshire]] at the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election]] following the retirement of [[Ray Whitney (politician)|Ray Whitney]]. Goodman held Wycombe with a majority of 3,168 and remained the MP there until the 2010 general election. He made his [[maiden speech]] on 27 June 2001, in which he recalled the former Prime Minister [[Benjamin Disraeli]], who had once contested his seat.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo010627/debtext/10627-25.htm#10627-25_spnew3|title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 27 Jun 2001 (pt 25)|publisher=Publications.parliament.uk|accessdate=12 June 2015}}</ref>
In parliament he served on the [[Department for Work and Pensions|Work and Pensions]] [[Select committee (United Kingdom)|Select committee]] 2001–5. He also served for a year as the [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] to the Chairman of the Conservative Party [[David Davis (British politician)|David Davis]] from 2001, and was promoted to the [[frontbencher|frontbench]] by [[Michael Howard]] in 2003 as a spokesman on work and pensions. On [[David Cameron]] becoming Conservative leader in 2005, Paul Goodman was made a spokesman on [[HM Treasury|Treasury]] matters. On 5 June 2009, amidst the uncertainty caused by the [[United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal|parliamentary expenses scandal]], he announced in the ''[[Bucks Free Press]]'' that he would not stand for Parliament at the next general election.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/4421105.Wycombe_MP__I_quit/|title=Wycombe MP: I quit|author=Oliver Evans|work=Bucks Free Press|date=5 June 2009 |accessdate=12 June 2015}}</ref> He said "a House in which professional politics predominates, entrenching and empowering a taxpayer-dependent political class distinct and separate from those who elect them...for better or worse, this future Commons isn't for me".<ref name="blogs.com"/>
Goodman was nominated for a [[life peer]]age by Prime Minister [[Rishi Sunak]] and on 11 March 2024 was created ''Baron Goodman of Wycombe, of High Wycombe in the County of Buckinghamshire''.<ref>{{London Gazette|date=15 March 2024|issue=64345|page=5286}}</ref>
==Personal life==
He has been married to Fiona Mary Ann Gill since 1999 and they have a son, named Daniel.{{cn|date=March 2024}}
==Publication==
* ''Healthy Choices'' by Paul Goodman, [[John Redwood]] and [[Angela Watkinson]], 2002
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{UK MP links|parliament=mr-paul-goodman/1471|hansardcurr=|hansard=mr-paul-goodman|publicwhip=Paul_Goodman|theywork=paul_goodman}}
*[http://www.wycombeconservatives.org/ Wycombe Conservatives] constituency site
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070213025538/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/653.stm BBC News – Paul Goodman] profile 30 March 2006
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{{s-bef|before=[[Stuart Marks, Baron Marks of Hale|The Lord Marks of Hale]]}}
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{{s-fol|after=[[James Jamieson, Baron Jamieson|The Lord Jamieson]]}}
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[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2001–2005]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2005–2010]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of York]]
[[Category:People educated at Cranleigh School]]
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism]]
[[Category:English Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Politicians from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames]]
[[Category:Life peers created by Charles III]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) life peers]]
[[Category:20th-century British journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century British journalists]]
[[Category:People from East Sheen]]
[[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages]]