Paul Hodgkinson

http://www.libdems.org.uk/paul_hodgkinson

Paul Hodgkinson
The Cotswolds

Paul Hodgkinson has lived in the Cotswolds for 25 years.

He is standing for Parliament as the voice for the many who feel disconnected from decisions made in Cirencester and at Shire Hall in Gloucester.

The Cotswolds constituency is always a fight between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems, Labour finishing in a distant third place in the 2010 election.

Cllr Hodgkinson was first elected to Cotswold District Council in 2007 and has held his rural seat since then. He became leader of the council’s Lib Dems in 2009, going on to steer the opposition group to the party's best results nationally in 2011 when they gained seven seats to take their total to 12.

In 2013 he won the County Council seat of Bourton and Northleach, which had previously always been Conservative.

A successful local businessman, Paul set up his executive coaching practice in 2004. He has a strong record of campaigning for local people - he has fought against high parking charges, led road safety campaigns and challenged unethical behaviour by public figures in the Cotswold Water Park fraud scandal.

Paul is tackling the cost of living in the area, working to sort out transport problems and protecting the unique character of the district.

He believes that the Cotswolds needs someone as MP who can take their case to Parliament and get some action. He is backing residents who feel it is shameful that the incumbent Tory MP has done little to address the Cotswolds’ suffering from some of the highest rural house prices and lowest wages in the country.