Born in Inverclyde and raised in Inverclyde, Paul attended St Columba’s High School in Gourock.
In 2007 Paul was the recipient of a Young Quality Scot for outstanding contribution to his community and in 2008 he was the recipient of Inverclyde Council’s most Enterprising Pupil Award. Paul was one of the first students in Inverclyde to take part in Inverclyde Council’s award-winning Recruit Programme.
In 2013, Paul was elected in a by-election to Inverkip & Wemyss Bay Community Council and subsequently re-elected twice. He served as Chair of the Inverkip & Wemyss Bay Community Council from 2015-2017 and then again from 2019-2022 and Secretary from 2018-2019.
Paul was a board member of the Inverkip Community Initiative (SCIO) from 2014-2017 as a board member he was responsible for overseeing the running and management of the charity, in addition he was the lead board member, responsible for IT & Marketing requirements of the Charity. From 2016 – 2017 Paul was the Vice Chair of the Wemyss Bay Community Association.
Between 2017 and 2021 Paul worked for several senior Scottish Labour MSP in various roles manly providing strategic communications and campaign support.
Paul has served in various constituency party roles within Inverclyde CLP from Branch Delegate, Executive Committee Members, IT Officer and since 2017 Paul has held the role of Constituency Secretary. Paul has been his local parties campaign organiser for over a number of years, including overseeing the 2015 General Election, 2017 Council Election, 2017 General Election, 2019 General Election.
In 2022 Paul was elected as a Councillor for Ward 6 – Inverclyde South West, representing the communities of Branchton, Larkfield, Braeside, Inverkip & Wemyss Bay. He serves as Vice Convenor for Environment & Regeneration and as the Council Community Council Champion. In addition to his roles on the Council he is also Vice Convenor for Renfrewshire Joint Valuation Board and is a member of the Executive Oversight Board for the Co-operative Council’s Innovation Network. Paul is also currently the Chief Whip of the Inverclyde Labour Group.