| The Lord Taylor of Goss Moor | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Truro and St Austell |
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| In office 12 March 1987 – 6 May 2010 |
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| Preceded by | David Penhaligon |
| Succeeded by | Seat Abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 January 1963 |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal Democrats |
Matthew Owen John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Goss Moor (born 3 January 1963) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Truro and St Austell in Cornwall from 1987 until he stood down at the 2010 general election. He was granted a life peerage and so became a member of the House of Lords in July 2010.
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Matthew Taylor is the adopted son of Kenneth Taylor, a television script writer best known for "The Jewel in the Crown" and "The Camomile Lawn".
He has now contacted his birth mother and found that his great-grandfather was Liberal MP Sir Percy Harris.[1]
Taylor was educated at two independent schools: at Treliske Preparatory School (now known as Truro School Prep)[2] on Highertown (A390) in Truro, and University College School in Hampstead (a suburb of London), followed by Lady Margaret Hall at the University of Oxford.
Politically active from a young age, Taylor was involved in his first election in 1979 at the age of 16, and joined the Cornwall anti-nuclear alliance aged 17. After winning a scholarship, he studied PPE at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where he was elected as President of the Students' Union from 1985-86 as part of a broad left coalition.
In 1986 he was assigned to the then Truro MP David Penhaligon as an economics researcher, but after Penhaligon died in a car crash just before Christmas 1986, Taylor was selected to run as the Liberal candidate in the subsequent by-election, which he won. Three months later he retained the seat at the 1987 general election. Aged 24 he was the youngest MP and took the title "Baby of the House" from Charles Kennedy, holding the title for 10 years until 1997. His celebrity status gave him early access to political media and television programmes including the BBC's "Question Time", while being an MP in a small party brought quick promotion to the front bench as local government spokesman.
Taylor has had a successful track record in backing leaders of his party, including Paddy Ashdown and Charles Kennedy, whose successful leadership campaign Taylor led in 1999 after Ashdown stepped down. His reward was to be made the party's Treasury spokesman, in which role he attacked Labour over its decision to shed a penny from the basic rate of income tax and announced the policy of raising the upper rate to 50% for people earning over £100,000. He has also been the party's spokesperson on environmental issues.
Taylor announced his retirement in 2007 and did not stand in the 2010 general election.[3] The Truro and St Austell constituency he represented was then abolished after a boundary review.
It was annonced that Taylor would receive a life peerage in the 2010 Dissolution Honours and his title was gazetted as Baron Taylor of Goss Moor, of Truro in the County of Cornwall on 16 July 2010.
Taylor married Vicky Garner (born 1973), a former director of pressure group Surfers Against Sewage, in 2007. The couple have two sons; Arthur Simon Rowan Taylor, born on 18 November 2006 at St Thomas' Hospital, London[4] and Jacob Oscar Heywood Taylor born on 12 February 2008 at home in Cornwall. Thomas and Garner Ltd provide business consultancy services, based in Roche, Cornwall.[5]
Taylor has a self-restored British Racing Green 1967 MG MGB car which he enjoys driving around the Cornish countryside. Each August he reverts to student days with a rucksack and a plane ticket to somewhere different - so far including Asia, Africa, and Central and South America, all on a minimal budget.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by David Penhaligon |
Member of Parliament for Truro 1987 – 1997 |
Constituency renamed |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Truro & St Austell 1997 – 2010 |
Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by Charles Kennedy |
Baby of the House 1987 – 1997 |
Succeeded by Chris Leslie |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Mark Oaten |
Chair of the Liberal Democrats 2003 – 2005 |
Succeeded by Paul Holmes |
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