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Paul Maynard

Working hard for Blackpool North & Cleveleys
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About Paul Maynard

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Paul Maynard
Paul Maynard
Paul Maynard
Paul Maynard
Paul Maynard
Paul Maynard

Ever since Mrs Thatcher visited the special school I attended in Winsford, Cheshire, at the age of 4, politics has always held a certain fascination for me.

I only went to the special school for some intensive physio, before transferring to the local village primary two years later. By the time I reached 21, I had got myself a first class degree from Oxford and started a career in management consultancy. Politics then seduced me yet again, and I worked for Dr Liam Fox as speechwriter and adviser.

People are the ones who really matter

So in a sense, I am precisely what lots of people now object to – someone who has been stuck in a Westminster bubble. I don’t see it that way. One reason I am proud to have represented Blackpool North & Cleveleys is because I have a passionate belief that what really matters in politics is not the shenanigans in the corridors of power, but rather the connection you make with the people you represent.

The pleasure in in serving as an MP is knowing that your effort and commitment is valued by your constituents, and nothing cheers me more than when a Labour voter says that they’re sorry they can’t vote for me, as they think I’ve worked really hard as a constituency MP.

Take people as you find them

Yes, I have cerebral palsy. It’s very mild, and doesn’t really affect how I live. It probably affects the way some people see me, and there will always be people who write you off because of it – but I’ve never let them stop me. Some of the reactions I have had, and which have appeared in the media, have surprised me. Having had it all my life, I don’t know any different anyway, and I always believe we should take people as we find them.

I reckon that these life experiences make an individual a better Member of Parliament. I have had a perspective no-one else has. I was surprised, for example, at the impact my maiden speech had – even Private Eye thought it the best maiden speech of the 2010 intake, the only example of an MP ever being glad to have appeared within its covers!

The reality of life

It was a real excitement for me to be elected the MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys in 2010. Everybody has fond memories of Blackpool, it sometimes seems, but the reality of two seaside resorts with below-average incomes, reshaping their purpose in a changing economic landscape, is that I see daily reality of those for whom life doesn’t always work out as they wish it had, often through no fault of their own, and so am further inspired to keep working to change that.

My Mum is from Liverpool, and she can remember going up to Blackpool regularly. I remember the thrill as a little boy as we went up the M6 heading for the illuminations too. I dislike all this ‘flat cap and whippet’ caricature of being a ‘northerner’. But I am proud of my northern roots. I think we’re a lot more down to earth up here in the north – and that’s another quality that politicians need to learn to acquire in spades.

Campaigns
Paul's proposal for a light rail loop connecting the Fylde coast together

Paul Maynard's Light Rail Loop

I've put forward a bold proposal to expand the Fylde Coast's light rail network.  Using mothballed routes and convertible under-used rail lines, I want to see tram services deliver new connections for Thornton and Fleetwood and to vastly improve frequencies for South Fylde Passengers.

Licensing Laws: Aviation | Home Office | Written Answers

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish her Department's response to the consultation on airside

Academic Year and Free School Meals | Department for Education | Written Answers

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department received a bid from Blackpool Council for the summer 2020 bidding rou

Aviation: Antisocial Behaviour | Department for Transport | Written Answers

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2020 to Question 25060 on Disruptive Airline Passengers W

School Meals: Standards | Department for Education | Written Answers

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance on nutritional standards his Department issues to private contractors providin

Breakfast Clubs: Finance | Department for Education | Written Answers

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools in (a) Blackpool and (b) Lancashire local authority areas have received fundin

Youth Services: Lancashire | Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport | Written Answers

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what projects in (a) Blackpool and (b) Lancashire have been allocate

Nature Conservation: Finance | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has allocated funding to the establishment of nature re

Academic Year and Free School Meals | Department for Education | Written Answers

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to announce the locations that will receive funding through the Holiday Activi

Poverty | Department for Work and Pensions | Written Answers

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people were in persistent poverty in each of the las

Disruptive Airline Passengers Working Group | Department for Transport | Written Answers

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Disruptive Passengers Working Group last met; and if he will publish the minutes of

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Paul Maynard Member of Parliament for Blackpool North and Cleveleys

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