A Westminster City Councillor, Paul was appointed Cabinet Member for City Management and Air Quality following Labour's historic victory at the May 2022 City Council elections and his experiences of working in Westminster City Council were the inspiration behind his latest book, 'Winning Westminster: How Labour turned Westminster Council Red', which was released in April 2023. 

I have been in London since I left Bury Grammar School and have been a resident of Westminster since 1973. I joined the Labour Party in 1974 and was first elected to Westminster City Council in 1982. All my years on the Council have been in Opposition. 

But that all changed on 5th May 2022 when the formerly ‘rock solid’ Conservative majority crumbled. An unpopular Government, a law-breaking Prime Minister, the £6 million Marble Arch Mound financial bungle and a Labour campaign that used war time ‘deception’ techniques, all contributed to bring about a spectacular Labour victory. 

To mark the first anniversary of this historic victory, I have written 'Winning Westminster - How Labour turned Westminster Council Red'. 

Part political ‘thriller’, part election ‘campaign manual’ and part ‘wartime deception’ story, this book is the ‘inside story’ of how the Labour Party, against the odds, caused a political earthquake by winning control of Westminster City Council for the first time in the Council’s 58-year history and then started to deliver its Fairer Westminster manifesto.  

I am now in the Council Cabinet responsible for City Management and Air Quality - waste collection and recycling, roads, parking, parks, trees and the mortuary. It's an opportunity I never thought I would have, and I am really enjoying the job - it's a full-time job and at the age of 72, I was looking ahead to retirement and a much different way of life! 

I hope the book will be of interest to anyone interested in UK politics, current affairs and political scandals, as well for anyone wanting to know how elections are won – and lost. I have sold about 200 copies so far. The book is available via Amazon in paperback or on Kindle (with pictures!) and all royalties will be donated to Westminster foodbanks. 

Paul's Alumni Story can also be read here.