Paul Blomfield

Paul Blomfield MP
Member of Parliament for Sheffield Central
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Richard Caborn
Majority	17309 (39.2%)
Personal details
Born	25 August 1953 Chatham, Kent, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Linda McAvan MEP
Alma mater	St John's College, York
Website	paulblomfield.co.uk parliament..paul-blomfield

Paul Blomfield (born 25 August 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Central since 2010.

Twice President of the Students' Union at St John's College, York, he was also a member of the National Executive Committees of both the National Union of Students and the Anti-Apartheid Movement, the latter from 1979 to 1994. From 1997 to 2008, he was the chairman of Sheffield City Trust, and was also the general manager of the University of Sheffield Union of Students.

Education

Born in Chatham, Paul Blomfield was educated at the Abbeydale Boys' Grammar School in Sheffield and Tadcaster Grammar School. He received a certificate in education from York St John University.

Anti-Apartheid Movement

He became involved in the Anti-Apartheid Movement while still at school and continued to organise Anti-Apartheid activity as a student politician. In 1976 he travelled to South Africa to meet local campaigners and learn about the apartheid system first hand. During this visit he was subject to surveillance by the South African Police and eventually decided to leave the country due to the risk this posed to the local anti-apartheid campaigners. He then went on to serve on the National Executive Committee of the Anti-Apartheid Movement from 1979 to 1994 when free elections were held in South Africa.^[1]

Sheffield City Trust

Paul Blomfield was a trustee of Sheffield City Trust from 1994–1997, and its chairman from 1997–2008. In this role he was responsible for the development of Sheffield International Venues, Sheffield City Hall and the Sheffield Festival. During his tenure, he oversaw the organisation's expansion into venues such as Sheffield City Hall and the English Institute of Sport.^[2]

University of Sheffield Union of Students

As general manager of the University of Sheffield Union of Students, he was responsible for establishing and maintaining its position as one of the leading Students' Unions in the UK; it won a number of awards over recent years, including "Best Students' Union in the UK".^[3] He stepped down as general manager just before contesting the 2010 general election.

Labour Party

He was the Chair of Sheffield District Labour Party from 1993 to 2009, resigning the position to fight the Sheffield Central at the 2010 general election, after long-serving MP Richard Caborn announced he would be standing down. He has been a long-standing opponent of tuition fees.^[4] Blomfield became the Chair of Labour for Democracy, or Labour4Democracy, on 4 December 2012. The internal party group was launched to promote plurality in the Labour Party, and increase co-operation with other political parties in building a "progressive consensus".^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

In Parliament

At the 2010 general election, Paul Blomfield was elected as the MP for Sheffield Central.^[10] He was one of the first MPs to nominate Ed Miliband, the successful candidate, in the 2010 Labour Leadership election. On 9 October 2010, he was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, Hilary Benn, retaining the role when Benn was moved to become Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. He was also elected to sit on the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, and later became Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Higher Education.^[11]

He retained his seat at the 2015 general election with a majority of 17,309 (his 2010 majority having been only 165).^[12]

Brain tumour

Blomfield underwent surgery to remove a benign brain tumour, a meningioma, in August 2011, going on to make a full recovery. This tumour could have been developing for 20 years. It was diagnosed when it began pressing against his optic nerve and interfering with his sight. He was diagnosed at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital within a week of noticing symptoms. The operation, by Mr Thomas Carroll lasted 13 hours and was back at work after 4 weeks.^[13] He and Conservative MP Guy Opperman, who also had a brain tumour in 2011, walked the first section of the Pennine Way in 2012 to raise money for Headway UK.^[14]

Personal life

Blomfield is married to Linda McAvan, a Labour Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber.

References

1. "Student forced to flee South African police". Sheffield Star. 17 March 2008.
2. "City's ambassador of sport now sets his sights on new role in Parliament". Yorkshire Post. 18 August 2008.
3. "Awards". Sheffield Students' Union. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
4. "Welcome fee policy". Times Higher Education. 6 October 2000.
5. "Who we are". Labour for Democracy. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
6. Blomfield, Paul (3 December 2012). "Paul Blomfield: Labour's history has often been of working with others for progressive goals". The Independent.
7. Grice, Andrew (3 December 2012). "Labour makes first move for coalition deal with Lib Dems". The Independent.
8. Blomfield, Paul (30 November 2012). "Beyond tribalism". Progress Online.
9. "Start The Week: Leveson, the Autumn Statement, Growth Bill and the launch of Labour for Democracy". Paul Blomfield (official website). 3 December 2012.
10. "Election 2010: Sheffield Central". BBC. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
11. "Paul Blomfield". UK Parliament. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
12. "Paul Blomfield MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
13. "My tribute to the NHS in the Yorkshire Post". Paul Blomfield. 19 November 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
14. "Paul Blomfield MP presents fundraising cheque for £1068 to local charity Headway Sheffield". Headway. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2015.

External links

• Paul Blomfield MP
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou