Paul Kohler (politician)

Paul Christopher Kohler is a British Liberal Democrat politician and legal academic serving as Member of Parliament for Wimbledon since 2024.^[1] Prior to his election, he was a scholar of property law who served as head of SOAS University of London's law department.

Kohler graduated from Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in law. He met Prince Edward at university.^[2]

In the 1990s and 2000s, Kohler taught at University College London (UCL) and New College, Oxford. Until 2022 and prior to going into politics, Kohler was a senior lecturer and undergraduate tutor at SOAS University of London, where he served as head of the university's law department.^[3] He also lectured at Queen Mary University of London.

Kohler first represented the Liberal Democrats in the 2018 local elections, successfully achieving election as a councillor in the Trinity ward of Merton London Borough Council^[4]. A year later, he was selected as the party's candidate for the constituency of Wimbledon at the 2019 United Kingdom general election. He was defeated by the incumbent Conservative MP, Stephen Hammond, but greatly increased the Lib Dems' vote share to a second-placed 19,745 (37.2%), reducing Hammond's majority to just 628 votes.^[5] He was once again elected to the council in Merton at the 2022 local elections, this time as one of three Lib Dem councillors in the Wimbledon Town and Dundonald ward.^[6] After once again securing the party's nomination for the Wimbledon parliamentary constituency at the 2024 United Kingdom general election, he gained the seat from the Conservatives (Hammond having not sought re-election^[7]), with a vote share of 24,790 (45.1%) and a majority of 12,610 (22.9%).^[8]

Kohler has severe injuries to his face after he was beaten by burglars during a raid at his home in 2014.^[9] He suffered a fractured eye socket, broken nose and severe internal bleeding and required facial reconstruction after the attack.^[10]

• Property Law: Commentary and Materials (2006), with Alison Clarke; part of Law in Context

• "Property Law" in Current Legal Problems Vol 46 (1993)
• "The Death of Ownership and the Demise of Property" in Current Legal Problems Vol 53 (2000)

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou

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