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Paul Kenneth Burstow (born 13 May 1962) is a British former politician who served as the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam for 18 years, from 1997 to 2015, when he was defeated by Paul Scully.
He was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Health in May 2010, and served in that position until September 2012.
In 1988, he joined the Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors as a campaigns officer; he then became its political secretary in 1996, where he remained until becoming an MP.
He contested the seat again in 1997, this time being elected as its Liberal Democrat MP with a majority of 2,097. Burstow joined several other new Liberal Democrat MPs, for the party gained many other south-west London seats at that election.
He made his maiden speech on 16 May 1997, speaking passionately about the needs of blindness and disability. Paul Burstow's Maiden Speech – Hansard On his election, Burstow immediately became a party spokesman on the Environment under Paddy Ashdown. He became the spokesman on Social Security in 1999, on the election of Charles Kennedy as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats.
Following the 2001 general election, Burstow became the Health spokesman for the Liberal Democrats. He was promoted to the Liberal Democrat shadow cabinet as the Shadow Secretary of State for Health in 2003. He stepped down from the Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet following the 2005 general election, but was appointed as the spokesman on London. On 22 March 2006, Liberal Democrat MPs elected him their Chief Whip. Lib Dems name Burstow chief whip – BBC News 22 March 2006 In that role he oversaw a number of reforms of the whips operation.
In 2003, The Guardian described Burstow as "One of the most knowledgeable and effective politicians on older people's issues". The opposition – The Guardian 10 September 2003 He was voted by MPs as older people's champion in the epolitix Charity Champion awards Paul Burstow – Charitychampionawards.com 2005 in December 2005.
He was appointed Chair of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust from November 2015 to June 2022. He was also invited to become a Trustee of Action on Smoking and Health in 2015 stepping down in 2022.
In 2016 he became a part-time professor of mental health policy at the University of Birmingham where he led a policy commission which made recommendations for a public health approach to improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, Investing in a Resilient Generation.
Burstow's interest in social care saw him appointed as Chair of the Social Care Institute for Excellence in July 2017 where he has worked to refresh the board of Trustees, appoint a new Chief Executive and develop the organisation's business strategy and deliver a financial turnaround .
He was appointed as chair of the charity St Andrew's Healthcare in September 2020. At the charity he has reshaped and strengthened the Board, appointed a new Chief Executive and promoted collaborative working with NHS mental health providers in the East and West Midlands to address a number of longstanding quality challenges.
In 2022 Burstow was appointed as one of the 42 Integrated Care Board Chairs. He has helped to shape the system partnership across Hertfordshire and West Essex and overseen the appointment of the new Board and is working with local government, NHS and CVFSE partners to develop a 10 year strategy and 5 year joint plan to improve the health and wellbeing of the local population.
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