Paul Marr spent 20 years as a prison officer before a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis forced a change of career, and he has now traded the prison wing for the Welsh Parliament as one of Reform UK’s new Senedd Members.
Marr, who is 53 and grew up in Bristol, joined the prison service at the age of 20. Across his career he worked with young offenders and the most serious category A inmates, trained for riots and served as a hostage negotiator, called to prisons when extra support was needed most.
In 2013, at the age of 40, he was medically discharged after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He moved into the NHS, managing drug treatment services in police custody, and later wrote a drug education programme for Bristol that was rolled out across the south west.
He entered politics for the first time this year, standing for Reform UK and placed second on the party’s list in Ceredigion Penfro. He was elected in the May 7 Welsh election and took his oath in a building he had never entered before being told to attend.
Marr sees a direct line between his old work and his new one. “Uniform was kind of in our blood,” he said of a family where one brother joined the RAF and another the police. His years as a negotiator, he argues, were about finding common ground, and he hopes to bring the same approach to the Senedd.
He does not support decriminalising drugs, warning that such a step would leave prison officers with no tools to combat drug-related crime and violence.
Sources
- Paul Marr was a prison officer for years. Now's he's a Senedd Member for Reform UK | Wales Online
- Paul Marr | Open Senedd
