Paul Bristow (born 27 March 1979) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Peterborough from 2019 until 2024, when he was defeated by the Labour candidate Andrew Pakes.

[6] Bristow grew up in Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire, where he had moved when he was five years old and attended Sir Harry Smith Community College.

[4] Bristow credits his school history teacher for fostering his interest in politics, and reports joining the Conservative Party at the age of 16.

[7] He studied History and Politics at Lancaster University (Cartmel College) and previously worked as a parliamentary aide for former Conservative MP Richard Spring.

[9] He stood down from the council to contest the Labour-held seat of Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland at the 2010 general election, finishing in second place with 35.6% of the vote.

[10] In 2013 he tried, unsuccessfully, to be the Conservative candidate for the then South East Cambridgeshire (UK Parliament constituency) making the final short-list but losing out to Lucy Frazer.

[18] In April 2020, Bristow discussed in an interview with the BBC that he had broken restrictions during the first COVID-19 lockdown by visiting his father before he died of a brain tumour.

[26][27][28] In October 2023, Bristow wrote a letter urging Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to support a "permanent ceasefire" in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war for humanitarian reasons.

He was dismissed as Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for his comments as they diverged from the government's position and "not consistent with the principles of collective responsibility".