At the age of 41, Paul King, may be one of the youngest mayors to serve the town of Oundle. He attended Leicester and Warwick University and now works as a senior management consultant in the commercial sector. His professional work involves engaging with dysfunctional teams and helping them to change, not unlike the format in Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. His style is that of a reformer, he is happy to initiate change and revitalise organizations.

He is very keen on technology and values online polling of public opinion. He would like to set up a new Town Council website with interactive pages to facilitate community participation. Linked to this is his desire to understand public opinion and the needs of people locally. His ambition to increase attendance at council meetings will raise the profile of the council, and encourage people to engage more with local issues.

The youth of Oundle also feature in his plans for the town. He would very much like to increase leisure activities for the young by organising events such as ‘Battle of the Bands’ and skateboarding competitions. His passion for music and his ability to play bass guitar on a semi professional basis will definitely enhance his youth appeal.

When asked what the worst parts of the job were, he replied after consideration, “The attention. When you represent an area, it is not only your reputation that can be at risk so it is crucial that the mayor always acts like a mayor, it’s a full time job”.

King describes the best part of the job is the fact that he is honoured to represent the community. Paul King is a political animal who has ambitions for greater involvement in public life.