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Lord Mayor of Portsmouth
Last updated: 07 June 2010 10:52The Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Cllr Paula Riches, was born in Nairobi, Kenya, of a Yorkshire father and a mother from London.
She spent her early life in Kenya, with the schooling she received there giving her the best education she says she could wish for. Her secondary school was Kenya High School for Girls which she attended as a boarder.
After leaving school at 17 years of age, Paula was sent to St James's College, Bridport, Dorset, to study shorthand, typing and bookkeeping, and also how to be a young lady.
On her return to Kenya she was delighted to get a job in Kenya's important tourist industry. When her parents left Kenya for Japan, and then Bangkok, this enabled her to visit them in both places and broadened her desire and enthusiasm to travel.
In 1968 she moved back to the UK and worked in Richmond at a well-known hotel before becoming a medical secretary to doctors at British Airways, Heathrow.
Moving to Worcester Park, Surrey, in the early 1980s, she became involved for a number of years as a volunteer with Victim Support, supporting families of murder victims.
This brought her into contact with the local police force and ultimately increased her interest in criminality and crime. So much so that in 1996 she enrolled at Portsmouth University to study for a degree in criminology which is how Portsmouth became her home – the best move she says she has ever made.
A mother of two, she was invited to join the Friends of Old Portsmouth Association and eventually became its chairperson, a position that was to bring her into contact with Portsmouth City Council. Later she was persuaded to stand as a Liberal Democrat candidate for St Thomas Ward, was elected and a year later appointed the council's executive member for community safety.
Now Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Paula sees her year of office as an opportunity to meet and greet not only the 'wonderful people' of Portsmouth but also to represent and promote the city where ever she goes.
