- Paul Keetch
Infobox_Politician
name =Paul Keetch
imagesize= 150px
caption =
constituency_MP = Hereford
term_start =2 May 1997
term_end =
majority =962 (2.1%)
predecessor =Sir Colin Shepherd
successor =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1961|5|21|df=yes
birth_place =Hereford
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse = Claire Elizabeth Baker
party =Liberal Democrats
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession =
religion =
website = [http://www.paulkeetch.org.uk www.paulkeetch.org.uk]
footnotes =Paul Stuart Keetch (born
21 May 1961 ,Hereford ) is a Liberal Democrat politician in theUnited Kingdom .Early life
He went to Hereford High School for Boys (grammar school, since 1976 the comprehensive [http://www.aylestone.hereford.sch.uk Aylestone School] ), then
Hereford Sixth Form College . Keetch was elected a Liberal Hereford City Councillor in 1983. He was a self-employed business consultant from 1979-1995. Since 1996, he has been a non-executive director of the London Computer Company.Political career
He is
Member of Parliament for Hereford, and has been since 1997. He was the Liberal Democrat spokesman for Foreign Affairs from 1999-2001, and Defence from October 1999 until the May 2005 General Election.In July 2005, Keetch succeeded
Sharon Bowles MEP as Chair of theLiberal International British Group . He also sits on theForeign Affairs Committee . He founded the [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmparty/050902/memi146.htm Cider] APPG.He will step down at the next General Election [Official site - [http://www.paulkeetch.org.uk/news/000735.html Keetch to stand down at the next election] retrieved 2006-12-24] which under the provisions of the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949, must be held on or before 3 June 2010, barring exceptional circumstances.
The Liberal Democrats have selected [http://www.sarahcarr.org.uk/ Sarah Carr] as their candidate to replace Mr Keetch for the revised Hereford and South Herefordshire constituency at the General Election. The local Conservative Party selected
Jesse Norman to be their candidate.Personal life
He married Claire Elizabeth Baker on
21 December 1991 and together they have one son.On
8 July 2007 he was taken seriously ill whilst travelling to theUnited States on aVirgin Atlantic flight fromHeathrow Airport . Onboard medics treated him as the pilot turned the aeroplane back to London, and he was admitted toLondon Chest Hospital . The following day a spokesman described his condition as "stable", though the cause of his illness remained undetermined. [cite news|last= Staff writer|title= MP still recovering in hospital|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hereford/worcs/6287440.stmdate|work=BBC News Online |date=2007-07-10 |accessdate= 2007-07-10 ] Doctors eventually diagnosed him with idiopathic ventricular fibrillation and fitted animplantable cardioverter-defibrillator to combat any relapses, though his condition was described as a "one-off". [cite news|first= Ian|last= Morris|title= Paul Keetch returns home to Hereford|url= http://www.herefordtimes.com/display.var.1566101.0.paul_keetch_returns_home_to_hereford.php|work= Hereford Times Internet Edition|date=2007-07-23 |accessdate= 2007-07-24 ]References
Further reading
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/3657681.stm Welcoming a flood defence report in 2004]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/09/nlibdem109.xml Telegraph report of Paul Keetch being taken seriously ill whilst on a flight to the USA on 08th July 2007]* [http://www.thisisherefordshire.co.uk/display.var.1545471.0.paul_keetch_im_feeling_fine.php Hereford Times- Paul Keetch thanks wellwishers from his hospital bed on 13th July 2007]
External links
* [http://www.paulkeetch.org.uk Paul Keetch MP] official site
* [http://www.libdems.org.uk/people/paul-keetch Paul Keetch MP] profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
* [http://www.herefordlibdems.org.uk/ Hereford Liberal Democrats]
* [http://www.epolitix.com/EN/MPWebsites/Paul+Keetch/ ePolitix.com - Paul Keetch]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-2834,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Paul Keetch MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/paul_keetch/hereford TheyWorkForYou.com - Paul Keetch MP]
* [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Paul_Keetch&mpc=Hereford The Public Whip - Paul Keetch]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/314.stm BBC News - Paul Keetch] profile30 March ,2006
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