Mike Popham

Prospective Member of Parliament for Bristol East

Michael Popham was elected to Bristol City Council in May 2007. He served on the Liberal Democrat Shadow Executive since then until February 2009 when, following resignation of the Labour Executive, he became an Executive Member. Before moving to Bristol he was a Councillor in Woking for six years.

Mike was born in Glastonbury in 1953, and joined the Royal Air Force as a teenager, rising through the ranks to squadron leader. In 1993 he left the RAF to go into business. He obtained an MBA from the Kingston Business School in 1995 and is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.

Bristol East's Prospective Member of Parliament, Mike Popham

Michael is a main board Director of the regulation, risk and compliance software company, Information Governance Limited. He also conceived and authored the fraud management standard, to be published by the British Standards Institute as PAS 8000.

A supporter of the Christian Alpha movement and a proponent of its outreach dimension, Michael is an avid offshore sailing skipper and a strong advocate of adventurous activities for deprived young people.

Since entering politics he has championed a number of causes including encouraging young people into local Government, avoiding waste at source, and reducing the burden of excessive alcohol consumption in public places on the Public, Police and the NHS. He also introduced Community Land Trusts to Bristol as a new policy for affordable housing, and championed Tenant Management Organisations as an additional option for tenants' participation in the management of their housing.

Michael's Parliamentary aspirations include simplifying Law through a Parliamentary rationalisation group, aiding people out of unsecured personal debt, making Britain more competitive, turning international enemies into friends, helping personal wealth creation, and promoting health and recreation for all.

Challenging Views!

On becoming the Prospective Member of Parliament for Bristol East Michael said:

"First we had the Labour Party consistently failing to thwart too many Conservative failures and then we had the Conservative Party consistently failing to thwart too many Labour failures.

Under Nick Clegg a Liberal Democratic Government will ensure that power neither rests with corporations nor the State, instead at the lowest appropriate level. Only then will we get the balanced economic, social and environmental policies the Nation deserves and the Liberal Democrats believe in."