In 1977 he worked for a year as a researcher for
Michael Mates, the Conservative MP for
Petersfield. In 1983 he was the chairman for the
Federation of Conservative Students, and was appointed as a director of
public affairs at Extel Consultancy in 1984, before becoming a researcher for two years to
Tom King, the
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and MP for
Bridgwater, in 1985. He was a briefly a member of the policy unit at the
City of Westminster Council in 1988 before training as a
novice monk at
Quarr Abbey in
Ryde on the
Isle of Wight. He left the abbey in 1990 to take up the position of
news editor with the
Catholic Herald, before becoming a lead writer with
The Daily Telegraph in 1991, moving to be a reporter with
The Sunday Telegraph in 1992, before returning to
The Daily Telegraph as a comment editor in 1995, remaining as a leader writer since his election to
Westminster. He was elected to the
House of Commons for Wycombe in
Buckinghamshire at the
2001 general election following the retirement of
Ray Whitney. Goodman held Wycombe with a majority of 3,168 and remained the MP there until the 2010 general election. He made his
maiden speech on 27 June 2001, in which he recalled the former Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli, who had once contested his seat. In parliament he served on the
Work and Pensions Select committee 2001–5. He also served for a year as the
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chairman of the Conservative Party
David Davis from 2001, and was promoted to the
frontbench by
Michael Howard in 2003 as a spokesman on work and pensions. On
David Cameron becoming Conservative leader in 2005, Paul Goodman was made a spokesman on
Treasury matters. On 5 June 2009, amidst the uncertainty caused by the
parliamentary expenses scandal, he announced in the
Bucks Free Press that he would not stand for Parliament at the next general election. He said "a House in which professional politics predominates, entrenching and empowering a taxpayer-dependent political class distinct and separate from those who elect them...for better or worse, this future Commons isn't for me". ==Personal life==