1. Paul Beresford previously served as MP for Croydon Central from 1992 to 1997.
15 Facts About Paul Beresford
1. 2.
Alexander Beresford was born on 6 April 1946 in Levin in the Horowhenua District of Manawatu-Whanganui, New Zealand.
3.
Paul Beresford moved to Nelson as a child, where he lived in Richmond, and attended Waimea College in Richmond before attending the University of Otago in Dunedin.
4.
Paul Beresford was elected as a Councillor to Wandsworth Borough Council in 1978, and was its Leader between 1983 and 1992, through much of the Thatcher Government.
5.
Paul Beresford was knighted in the 1990 New Year Honours for political and public service.
6.
Paul Beresford was selected to fight the safe Conservative seat of Croydon Central following the retirement of former Cabinet minister John Moore.
7.
Paul Beresford made his maiden speech on 30 June 1992.
8.
Paul Beresford entered the Major Government in 1994 as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for the Environment and remained until the Government was defeated in 1997.
9.
In 2012, Paul Beresford was named by the Conservative Home website as one of a minority of loyal Conservative backbench MPs not to have voted against the government in any significant rebellions.
10.
Paul Beresford, while serving as a backbencher, has been successful in utilising Private Members Bills and carefully chosen amendments to government legislation to achieve over ten legal changes which the BBC's Mark D'Arcy described as collectively having '.
11.
Paul Beresford campaigned for a Remain vote during the 2016 referendum on EU membership.
12.
In July 2022, during the political crisis caused by the Pincher Scandal, Paul Beresford announced that he had lost confidence in Prime Minister Boris Johnson and felt he should resign.
13.
Paul Beresford went on to back Rishi Sunak in both the first and second Conservative Party leadership contests of 2022.
14.
Paul Beresford announced in early 2023 that he would step down at the 2024 general election.
15.
Paul Beresford has a son from his previous marriage who lives in New Zealand.