About Paul James

Paul was born in Gloucester in 1973 and attended Linden Infant School, Calton Road Junior School and The Crypt Grammar School. On leaving school, Paul joined Barclays Bank, working in various branches in Bristol and Gloucestershire, mainly dealing with security for the Bank’s lending. Paul now works for local estate agents and surveyors Naylor Powell (http://www.naylorpowell.com/), in their property management business, looking after a portfolio of rented property in and around Gloucester.

Paul was elected to Gloucester City Council in 1996, at the age of 22, to represent the Kingsholm ward. This made Paul one of Gloucester’s youngest ever councillors. He was re-elected in 2000 with a majority of over 1000 and again in May 2002, following boundary changes, to the new Longlevens ward. Paul was re-elected by Longlevens' voters and in 2006 again in 2010, both times with a much-increased majority.

Paul led the Conservative Group on the Council for six years, during which time he took the Conservatives from only having two councillors to becoming the largest group on the Council. He stood down as leader in May 2002 and became the 871st Sheriff of Gloucester. In June 2004 Paul was appointed as the Cabinet Member for Regeneration - a new portfolio driving forward the major developments taking place in the City. He is also responsible for tourism and economic development.

Paul stood as the Conservative candidate for Gloucester in the general election in 2001, cutting Labour’s majority from 8,259 to 3,880. He was re-selected as Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Gloucester in July 2002. Despite increasing his vote in the 2005 election, Paul fell short of gaining the seat from Labour.

In May 2007, Mark Hawthorne stood down as Conservative Leader of Gloucester City Council and Paul took up the reins again, being confirmed as Leader of the Council on 21st May. Under Paul's leadership, the Council has been transformed, with a new management team and an increased focus on performance. Paul's leadership has drawn praise for leading the city through the floods of Summer 2007 and driving forward Gloucester's long-awaited regeneration.  Paul led the Conservatives on the City Council to their first overall majority for 23 years in May 2011.

Paul lives in Kingsholm and is an avid fan of Gloucester Rugby Club, where he has held a season ticket since the age of 10. He is a keen runner, taking part in several races each year, including running the Bristol Half Marathon in 2009 in a respectable time of 1 hr 44 mins and the Dublin marathon in 2010 in 3 hours 55 minutes.

Paul’s family still live in the area, with his older sister Tina living in Abbeydale with her husband and two sons. Paul's younger brothers, Ben and Dan, and sister Charlotte live in Highnam and all attend St Peter's High School.

Paul regularly appears in the media and writes a column each month for Cotswold Style magazine.

More about Paul

Date of birth: 16^th July 1973

Marital status: Single

Hobbies: Watching Gloucester play rugby. Going to the gym (I go to Horizons at GL1 several times a week). Running (I can often be seen running around Kingsholm and Longlevens). Eating out - my favourite restaurants include Prezzo, Bearland and Nandos.

Favourite music: I have been to see the Spice Girls and Britney Spears in concert – but I’ve grown out of them now. I do like Michael Buble and Leona Lewis, amongst others.

Appointments:

Director of Gloucester Heritage Urban Renegeration Company Ltd

(http://www.gloucesterurc.co.uk/)

Director of the House of the Tailor of Gloucester plc (http://www.tailor-of-gloucester.co.uk/)

Chair of the Gloucester Partnership (http://www.gloucesterpartnership.org.uk/)