David Taylor (Labour politician)
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it remains largely unverified because it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2010) |
David Taylor | |
|---|---|
 Taylor as an MP | |
| Member of Parliament for North West Leicestershire | |
| In office 1 May 1997 – 26 December 2009 | |
| Preceded by | David Ashby |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Bridgen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | David Leslie Taylor 22 August 1946 Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, England |
| Died | 26 December 2009 (aged 63) Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England |
| Political party | Labour and Co-operative |
| Spouse(s) | Pamela Caunt (m. 1969) |
| Children | 5 |
| Alma mater | |
David Leslie Taylor (22 August 1946 – 26 December 2009) was a British Labour Co-operative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Leicestershire from 1997 until his death in 2009.
Biography[]
David Taylor was born in the town of Ashby de la Zouch. He went to Heather County Primary School near Coalville, Ashby Boy's Grammar School (now known as Ashby School) and Leicester Polytechnic.[citation needed]
Career[]
At Leicester Polytechnic, he became a Chartered Public Finance Accountant in 1970. At the Open University, he gained a BA in Maths and Computing in 1974.[citation needed] During this time he wrote the first CASCAID computer program that evolved into the modern-day Kudos and Adult Directions programs. Before being elected as a Member of Parliament, Taylor was an accountant and the computer applications manager for Leicestershire County Council from 1977 to 1997.[1]
He founded Safeguard the Quality of the Rural Environment (SQUARE) and had been a parish councillor, churchwarden of St John the Baptist church in Heather, President of Heather Sparkenhoe Cricket Club, magistrate and school governor.[citation needed]
Religion[]
Taylor was a committed Christian and described himself as an ecumenical Anglican.[citation needed]
Personal life[]
Taylor married Pamela Caunt on 13 September 1969 in Loughborough. The couple had four daughters (and one son, deceased), one granddaughter and one grandson.[1]
Death[]
On Boxing Day 2009, whilst walking with his family at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire, Taylor suffered a massive heart attack. He was taken by ambulance to Queens Hospital in Burton-on-Trent hospital, but paramedics were unable to save him.[2][3] The event occurred during his day off while spending time with his family; he had previously announced that he would not run for reelection due to the high workload.[4]
Parliamentary career[]
He first contested his seat in 1992, achieving a 5.9% swing compared to the national 3.6% swing to Labour.
Taylor's views were on the left of the Labour Party. He was widely regarded as one of the parliamentary rebels and has rebelled on 7.2% of votes since June 2001.[5]
As Chair of the All-Party Group on Smoking and Health, he was particularly active on the issue of tobacco control and a Member of the Chairmen's Panel Committee and a Member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.[citation needed]
Taylor described it as "a real privilege" to win the title of Commons Backbencher of the Year 2007 in the Annual Awards organised by Sky TV and The House Magazine and decided by a ballot of all 646 MPs. His citation described him as "an indefatigable campaigner, constant attender and independent–minded".[citation needed]
He was one of only a small number of Labour MPs to hold an anti-abortion position.[citation needed]
Expenses[]
Prior to this, he opened his complete 'unredacted' expenses file to local newspaper the Leicester Mercury.[6]
Following the new emergency interim rules announced on 19 May 2009 by the Speaker which say that furniture should no longer be claimed for, David Taylor voluntarily elected to apply those new rules retrospectively in his own case for the life of this Parliament and has since made a refund based on the full funded purchase price of all such items.
Standing down[]
At the May 2008 meeting of his Constituency Labour Party, Taylor announced he would not be standing for re-election at the next general election. Taylor died at the end of 2009, before the general election. As an election had to be called within four months, no by-election was held and at the 2010 general election Taylor’s former seat was gained by Andrew Bridgen of the Conservative Party.
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Julia Langdon (28 December 2009). "David Taylor: obituary Popular Labour backbench MP who was prepared to vote against his own government". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
- ^ "Labour MP David Taylor dies following heart attack". BBC News. 27 December 2009. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
- ^ "MP David Taylor dies". Leicester Mercury. 27 December 2009. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
- ^ Rosa Prince (29 December 2009). "David Taylor's death may leave constituents without an MP". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
- ^ Voting Record – David Taylor MP, North West Leicestershire; The Public Whip
- ^ "MP admits 'lack of judgement' over claims". Leicester Mercury. 23 May 2009. Archived from the original on 29 May 2009.
External links[]
- Website of David Taylor, MP
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by David Taylor
- BBC Politics page
- Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: David Taylor MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com – David Taylor MP
- Open Rights Group – David Taylor MP
- Blog[permanent dead link]
News items[]
- 1946 births
- 2009 deaths
- People from Ashby-de-la-Zouch
- Alumni of the Open University
- Alumni of De Montfort University
- English accountants
- English Anglicans
- Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies
- UK MPs 1997–2001
- UK MPs 2001–2005
- UK MPs 2005–2010
- European democratic socialists
- Anglican socialists
- English Christian socialists
- 20th-century English businesspeople