John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick

The Honourable
The Lord Taylor of Warwick
Member of the House of Lords
Assumed office
2 October 1996
Personal details
Born John David Beckett Taylor
Birmingham, England
Nationality British
Political party Non-affiliated
Spouse(s) Laura Colleen Taylor
Website http://www.lordtaylor.org/

John David Beckett Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick[1] (born 21 September 1952) is a member of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.[2] In 1996, at the age of 43, he became one of the youngest people in the upper house.[3] He is the third person of Afro-Caribbean origin to enter the House of Lords: the first, Learie Constantine, entered in 1969, and the second, David Pitt, in 1975. Taylor initially practised as a barrister, and served as a part time deputy district judge University Chancellor. He has however been disbarred as a result of criminal convictions and imprisonment. He has also been a company director and television and radio presenter.[4][5] He is a Christian,[6] who devotes time and resources to charities, namely Kidscape, Parents for Children, SCAR (Sickle Cell Anemia Relief), Variety Club Children's Charity of Great Britain, Warwick Leadership Foundation, and WISCA (West Indian Senior Citizen's Association).[7][8][9][10]


Early life

Born in 1952, Taylor was the son of Jamaican immigrants in Birmingham.[5] His father, Derief Taylor, was a professional cricketer and coach for Warwickshire, and his mother, Enid, was a nurse.[5] Taylor attended Moseley Grammar School in Birmingham where he was head boy, and later attended Keele University where he studied English Literature and Law, followed by the Inns of Court School of Law in London.[5]

Career

Taylor was called to the bar in 1978, by Gray's Inn, where he was also awarded the Gray's Inn Advocacy Award, and Norman Tapp Memorial Prize for excellence in mooting.[11] Taylor undertook his pupillage at 1 Dr Johnson's Buildings,[4] and then joined the same chambers as the future Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke.[5] Taylor practised from there on the Midland & Oxford Circuit.[4] In 1997, Taylor was appointed as a part-time deputy district judge (Magistrates' Court).[6] He was disbarred after his conviction and imprisonment.

Political

In the 1980s, Taylor turned his hand to local politics and became active in his local council. He contested Birmingham Perry Barr for the Conservative Party at the 1987 general election, losing by 6,933 votes. He went on to be selected over 300 other candidates to become the Conservative candidate for Cheltenham at the 1992 general election.[6] The campaign was seen as having been influenced by race,[6][12] with Taylor's West Indian background apparently causing concern to some members of the local Conservative party.[3] Taylor was defeated by 1,668 votes by the Liberal Democrat candidate. Cheltenham was regarded as a marginal seat.[3] This episode, with Taylor as the alleged victim of racism, brought him to national attention.[3]

Taylor was made a life peer as Baron Taylor of Warwick, of Warwick in the County of Warwickshire on 2 October 1996,[13] on the recommendation of the then prime minister, John Major.[3] At 43, he became one of the youngest life peers to sit in the House of Lords.

Other activities

Taylor has also worked as a television and radio presenter,[5] and was the host of "The John Taylor Programme" on BBC Radio 2,[11] the most popular radio station in the United Kingdom.[14]

In 2016, he appeared on the Fox News Channel to discuss the potential impact of Britain leaving the European Union (Brexit).[15]

Other positions he has held include:[11]

False accounting convictions

In early 2009, a major political scandal was triggered by the leaking and subsequent publication of expense claims made by members of the United Kingdom Parliament.[21] On 16 July 2010, Taylor resigned the Tory Whip after being charged with offences connected with claims totalling £11,277. Several hundred members of the House of Commons and House of Lords were involved in the expenses scandal[22][23] but only six members of the House of Commons and two, including Taylor, of the Lords, were charged and convicted. Taylor's defence in the Crown Court was that on appointment to the House of Lords he had asked other peers for advice on expenses and allowances and that he was told that the overnight subsistence allowance, the office allowance, and the travel expenses were provided in lieu of a salary, as well as the daily attendance allowance. As a result of claiming for the cost of journeys he had not made, and the cost of accommodation he had not occupied, Taylor was convicted of six counts of false accounting.[24] In his summing up to the jury, Mr Justice Saunders observed that Taylor was a man of good character who had devoted a lot of time to helping others.[25] The judge imposed a sentence of 12 months imprisonment, relating to £11,277 in falsely claimed expenses. He said that the expenses scandal had "left an indelible stain on Parliament". About 15 members of the House of Lords had refused to give evidence to support Taylor's defence.[26]

Personal life

Taylor married in 1981 and had three children with his wife. They divorced in 2005. The Daily Telegraph reported that Taylor is an evangelical Christian, and in 2009 he married an evangelical Christian from Florida. That marriage lasted 24 days and was annulled in 2010.[6][27] In 2015, Taylor married Laura Colleen Taylor.[8]

Styles of address

References

  1. ↑ "Biographies: Lord Taylor of Warwick". Parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Life & Soul - Lord John Taylor of Warwick".
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Profile: Lord Taylor of Warwick". BBC News. 30 April 2001. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Wambu, Onyekachi (2011). John Taylor Lord Taylor of Warwick. RHCP Digital. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Profile: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Updated)". BBC.co.uk. london: BBC News. 30 April 2001. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Caroline Gammell and Martin Beckford (25 January 2011). "Lord Taylor of Warwick: profile of the first black Tory peer". London: Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  7. 1 2 "House of Lords, Register of Lords' Interests".
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Dods People. Political Reference Data for the UK and EU".
  9. 1 2 3 Black Who's Who. London, England: Ethnic Media Group. 1999. p. 93. ISBN 0-9533744-1-6.
  10. 1 2 Vaz, The Rt Hon Keith, ed. (2014). Rainbow Over Westminster. HANSIB. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-906190-77-4.
  11. 1 2 3 "About Me". Lord Taylor of Warwick Foundation. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  12. ↑ Allen, David (25 January 2011). "The fall of John Taylor". New Statesman. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "No. 54549". The London Gazette. 11 October 1996. p. 13541.
  14. ↑ "BBC Radio 1 loses listeners". London: BBC News. 31 July 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "UK Parliament Member: 'Brexit'".
  16. ↑ "Lady Digby Appointed Chancellor". Bournemouth University Press Release. Bournemouth University. November 6, 2006. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  17. ↑ "BBFC Appoints New Vice Presidents". BBFC Press Release. British Board of Film Classification. 14 July 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  18. ↑ "Legislative Members of The International Trade Council".
  19. ↑ "UK Parliament, Lord John Taylor".
  20. ↑ "The Warwick Leadership Academy".
  21. ↑ "MP expenses leak 'not for money'". BBC News. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  22. ↑ "Full list of MPs' expenses repayments". BBC News. London. 4 February 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  23. ↑ Beckford, Martin (19 November 2009). "First female Muslim peer Baroness Uddin claimed £100,000: MPs’ expenses". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  24. ↑ Evans, Martin (20 September 2011). "Expenses MPs and their sentences: how long each served". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  25. ↑ "Lord Taylor guilty of making false expenses claims". BBC News. London. 25 January 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  26. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13599624
  27. ↑ Robert Mendick (29 January 2011). "Lord Taylor: the strange tale of the convicted peer and his 24-day marriage to a wealthy businesswoman". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 30 January 2011.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.