Dear Editor,

I am writing to pay tribute to Paul Keetch, former MP for Hereford and Ross-on-Wye, who died last week. Many tributes have already been made to Paul’s work for Hereford and nationally as a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. I want to focus on his work in Ross, and his help to me personally in my early years as a Councillor, after I was first elected in 2007.

I first met Paul when my daughter, who was then a sixth-former at John Kyrle High School, joined a group of JKHS students on a trip to Parliament to celebrate ‘Herefordshire Day’, a celebration of the newly formed Herefordshire Council and all things Herefordian. Subsequently, Paul arranged for her to spend three months as an intern in his Westminster office during her gap year, a wonderful opportunity for a student about to study politics at university.

Having started young in politics himself, when elected as a Hereford City councillor at 21, it was typical of him to seek to involve young people in politics. Paul took care to work with all schools in the constituency, not just those in Hereford.

Paul was regularly in Ross during his time as an MP, running surgeries regularly on Saturdays at the Library. Once I was a Councillor, he strongly encouraged me to join these sessions, and I learnt a lot from them about the wide range of problems that residents can need help with and how best to assist them. Whenever, as a Ross Councillor, I referred casework to him, the case was always attended to promptly, with care and courtesy.

On a personal level, I remember his kindness, encouragement and support. On election days, Paul would always arrive unexpectedly at my front door mid-afternoon, just as volunteers were getting tired and spirits were flagging, to help with the door-knocking and last minute leafleting.

Farewell Paul, you were the best constituency MP and will be sadly missed.

Chris Bartrum

Ross-on-Wye