Paul Bristow

Paul Bristow (born 27 March 1979) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Peterborough from 2019 until 2024, when he was defeated by the Labour candidate Andrew Pakes. A member of the Conservative Party, he worked as a public relations consultant and was the chairman of the lobbying trade body, the Association of Professional Political Consultants, prior to his parliamentary career. Bristow was also a councillor on Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council between 2006 and 2010.

Early life
Bristow was born on 27 March 1979 in York. His parents were both nurses. His father Alan was also a Conservative Party district councillor. Bristow grew up in Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire, where he had moved when he was five years old and attended Sir Harry Smith Community College. Bristow credits his school history teacher for fostering his interest in politics, and reports joining the Conservative Party at the age of 16. He studied History and Politics at Lancaster University (Cartmel College) and previously worked as a parliamentary aide for former Conservative MP Richard Spring.

Political career
In 2006, Bristow was elected to Hammersmith and Fulham Council as a councillor for Fulham Reach ward. He stood down from the council to contest the Labour-held seat of Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland at the 2010 general election, finishing in second place with 35.6% of the vote.

After returning to Peterborough, Bristow contested the 2019 Peterborough by-election, finishing in third place behind Labour's Lisa Forbes and Brexit Party candidate Mike Greene. At the 2019 general election, he won the seat with a majority of 2,580 votes. Before his parliamentary career, Bristow had been the chairman of the lobbying trade body, the Association of Professional Political Consultants, between 2017 and 2019. He was also the director of the healthcare public relations consultancy PB Consulting which he had founded in 2010. Bristow resigned his directorship and handed over control of the firm to his wife in January 2020. It was also renamed as HealthComms Consulting in the same year. As MP, he continued to submit questions to ministers on health issues related to the firm but did not always declare his interests.

Bristow has served as a member of the Health and Social Care Committee since November 2022 and had previously been part of the committee between March 2020 and May 2022. He was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Nadine Dorries in February 2022. In April 2020, Bristow discussed in an interview with the BBC that he had broken restrictions during the first COVID-19 lockdown by visiting his father before he died of a brain tumour. He commented that "anybody would've done the same".

In April 2021, The Observer reported that Bristow claimed rental expenses of £10,500 between April and November 2020 for his constituency accommodation while renting out three residential properties in London. Responding to the article, he stated that he had "followed both the letter and the spirit of the rules".

In November 2021, Bristow wrote an article in The Times calling for MPs to be banned from involvement in consultant lobbying. He initially supported Grant Shapps in the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election, after Shapps withdrew, Bristow endorsed Liz Truss.

In October 2022, following the resignation of Truss as Prime Minister, Bristow announced that he would be supporting previous Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the subsequent leadership election.

On 24 May 2023, Bristow was asked by the Speaker to leave the House of Commons, owing to his disruptive behaviour. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle interrupted Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister's Questions to ask Bristow to leave. Bristow was not formally ejected, though Hoyle had threatened to name him, should he not leave voluntarily.

In October 2023, Bristow wrote a letter urging Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to support a "permanent ceasefire" in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war for humanitarian reasons. In further comments on his Facebook page, he said Palestinians "should not suffer collective punishment for the crimes of Hamas." Bristow co-chairs the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims. He was dismissed as Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for his comments as they diverged from the government's position and "not consistent with the principles of collective responsibility". Bristow was the first Conservative MP to diverge.

Personal life
Bristow is a supporter of York City F.C. He is married and has two daughters. His wife Sara (née Petela) is a public relations consultant and has been the managing director of Healthcomms Consulting since January 2020 and Politicomms Consulting since November 2020. Healthcomms Consulting specialises in healthcare and health technology and was founded by Bristow in 2010 under its previous name, PB Consulting. He resigned his directorship in January 2020, handing control to his wife. His sister-in-law Emma is a director of the public relations consultancy GK Strategy.

In August 2021, Bristow was given a 28-day driving ban after speeding on the A1. He requested the ban to avoid "any suggestion of hypocrisy" when campaigning about "speeding on residential streets" in Peterborough.