Paul James Scriven (born 7 February 1966) was the Liberal Democrat Leader of Sheffield City Council (2008–2011), on which he represents Broomhill.[1]
Scriven was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire as the middle of three children. He was educated at Rawthorpe High School, Huddersfield, but after working for two years for a road construction firm, he returned to education at 18 to study his "O" and "A" levels at Huddersfield Technical College. He attended Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University) to read for a BA. From 1989 to 1990 he was president of its Students Union.
He started his working life 'fast tracked' as a graduate trainee in the National Health Service. He worked at a number of hospitals in the UK and later for a number of private companies. In 2005 he set up his own travel company, "Your Asia Holidays", and works as its Managing Director.[2]
Scriven was elected to Sheffield City Council in May 2000, and became Leader of the Council in 2008. He was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Sheffield Central constituency at the 2010 general election, losing to Labour's Paul Blomfield by 165 votes.[3]
In November 2010 Scriven received a Leader Award from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, awarded annually to "recognise... the work of outstanding local and regional liberal and democrat politicians".[4]
In December 2010, Scriven was criticised by the local press[5] when a promotional music video for a Sheffield hotel starring the council leader appeared on political blogs.[6] The video is a re-worked version of the Lou Reed song "Perfect Day" but with lyrics changed to tell the story of a tired businessman arriving at the hotel after a "Hectic Day".
In April 2011, The Guardian newspaper reported that though he was the "closest ally in local government" to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg MP, Scriven publicly questioned the UK coalition government's decision to "front-load" spending cuts, which forced councils to slash services on the eve of the local elections in the following month.[7]
Scriven has sat on a number of national bodies on public sector reforms and local government efficincies, both for the Liberal Democrats and the UK Government.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jan Wilson |
Leader of Sheffield City Council 2008–2011 |
Succeeded by Julie Dore |