Paul Blomfield

Paul Christopher Blomfield (born 25 August 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Central since 2010.

Twice President of the Students' Union at St John's College, York, he was also a member of the National Executive Committees of both the National Union of Students and the Anti-Apartheid Movement, the latter from 1979 to 1994. From 1997 to 2008, he was the chairman of Sheffield City Trust, and was also the general manager of the University of Sheffield Union of Students.

Education
Born in Chatham, Paul Blomfield was educated at the Abbeydale Boys' Grammar School in Sheffield and Tadcaster Grammar School. He received a certificate in education from York St John University.

Anti-Apartheid Movement
He became involved in the Anti-Apartheid Movement while still at school and continued to organise Anti-Apartheid activity as a student politician. In 1976 he travelled to South Africa to meet local campaigners and learn about the apartheid system first hand. During this visit he was subject to surveillance by the South African Police and eventually decided to leave the country due to the risk this posed to the local anti-apartheid campaigners. He then went on to serve on the National Executive Committee of the Anti-Apartheid Movement from 1979 to 1994 when free elections were held in South Africa.

Sheffield City Trust
Paul Blomfield was a trustee of Sheffield City Trust from 1994–1997, and its chairman from 1997–2008. In this role he was responsible for the development of Sheffield International Venues, Sheffield City Hall and the Sheffield Festival. During his tenure, he oversaw the organisation's expansion into venues such as Sheffield City Hall and the English Institute of Sport.

University of Sheffield Union of Students
As general manager of the University of Sheffield Union of Students, he was responsible for establishing and maintaining its position as one of the leading Students' Unions in the UK; it won a number of awards over recent years, including "Best Students' Union in the UK". He stepped down as general manager just before contesting the 2010 general election.

Labour Party
He was the Chair of Sheffield District Labour Party from 1993 to 2009, resigning the position to fight the Sheffield Central at the 2010 general election, after long-serving MP Richard Caborn announced he would be standing down. He has been a long-standing opponent of tuition fees. Blomfield became the Chair of Labour for Democracy, or Labour4Democracy, on 4 December 2012. The internal party group was launched to promote plurality in the Labour Party, and increase co-operation with other political parties in building a "progressive consensus".

In Parliament
At the 2010 general election, Paul Blomfield was elected as the MP for Sheffield Central. He was one of the first MPs to nominate Ed Miliband, the successful candidate, in the 2010 Labour Leadership election. On 9 October 2010, he was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, Hilary Benn, retaining the role when Benn was moved to become Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. He was also elected to sit on the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, and later became Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Higher Education.

He retained his seat at the 2015 general election with a majority of 17,309 (his 2010 majority having been only 165).

Brain tumour
Blomfield underwent surgery to remove a benign brain tumour, a meningioma, in August 2011, going on to make a full recovery. This tumour could have been developing for 20 years. It was diagnosed when it began pressing against his optic nerve and interfering with his sight. He was diagnosed at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital within a week of noticing symptoms. The operation, by Mr Thomas Carroll lasted 13 hours and was back at work after 4 weeks. He and Conservative MP Guy Opperman, who also had a brain tumour in 2011, walked the first section of the Pennine Way in 2012 to raise money for Headway UK.

Personal life
Blomfield is married to Linda McAvan, a Labour Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber.