Dari Taylor
Encyclopedia
Dari Jean Taylor is a British
Labour Party
politician who was the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Stockton South between the 1997
and 2010 general elections.
, South Wales in December 1944. She originally attended Ynyshir Girls' School before moving to Burnley Municipal College when her father, Daniel Jones
, was elected to Parliament as the Labour MP for Burnley
in 1959. He remained the MP for Burnley until 1983. She attained a BA from the University of Nottingham
and an MA from the University of Durham, then lectured at a number of colleges of Further Education.
She was active in the Trade Union movement
from 1990 until her election. She initially worked as a researcher and later becoming the Regional Educational Officer for the GMB Union
in the Northern Region in 1993. She was also an elected member of Sunderland Metropolitan Council between 1986 and the time of her election to Parliament in 1997.
She describes her interests as issues relating to women, health, the economy, industry, defence, international development, disabilities, drugs and crime and all aspects of child welfare, especially adoption.
. This method of selection was subsequently declared illegal in January 1996 as it breached sex discrimination laws, Despite the ruling she remained in place as the candidate for the following year's election. Taylor was elected as Member of Parliament for Stockton South in 1997, until losing the seat at the 2010 General Election.
Taylor served as Parliamentary Private Secretary
to Lewis Moonie and Lord Bach (Ministry of Defence) from 2001-03 and then as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Hazel Blears
, Home Office
minister between 2003 and 2005. Her latest such position was again as a Parliamentary Private Secretary, to Phil Hope
at the Department of Health 2008-09.
She was the Chairman of the North East Regional Select Committee
and a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee
. Taylor is secretary of Labour Friends of India
, Vice-chair of the Azerbaijan
Group and the treasurer for the Opera
Group.
In terms of her work with children she is Chair of the Adoption and Fostering Group, Secretary for the Cardiac Risk in the Young Group and Vice-chair of the Children Group.
A House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges
stated:
Taylor suggested that the rules were too "confusing" and that she had "tried her best" to stick to them. She complied with the orders of the committee.
In 2007 was The second costliest MP in the North East region (Stockton South), who claimed £159,178, putting her in 24th place in the Westminster league table.http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1787812.Region_s_most_expensive_MP_revealed_after_claims_released/
In May 2009, Taylor attracted some criticism for her expenses claims, in particular for claiming £18,100 over four years for food - the maximum possible claim. She also claimed £54,329 for mortgage interest payments over four years on her two-bedroomed London
apartment, £40 per month for a cleaner to perform light housekeeping duties and £310 for tiling a bathroom She was one of the 98 MPs who voted to keep MPs' expenses secret. She was one of the few MP's to publish their expenses independently but had blacked out the parts that would upset Her Voters.
. She supports a fully elected House of Lords and
bills which favoured a partially elected alternative. She is in favour of nuclear power and the replacement of Trident. She is described as a "Labour loyalist"
Repeatedly voted against the Gurkas
Voted for automatic enrolment in occupational pensions. votes
Voted very strongly for encouraging occupational pensions. votes
Voted strongly for removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords. votes
Voted moderately against a wholly elected House of Lords. votes
Voted very strongly for more EU integration. votes
Voted very strongly for introducing foundation hospitals. votes
Voted moderately for laws to stop climate change. votes
Voted very strongly for replacing Trident. votes
Voted very strongly for the Iraq war. votes
Voted very strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war. votes
Voted against increasing the rate of VAT. votes
Voted strongly for equal gay rights. votes
Voted very strongly for allowing ministers to intervene in inquests. votes
Voted very strongly for university tuition fees. votes
Voted moderately against a transparent Parliament. votes http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1411411.Outrage_after_MPs_vote_for_secrecy/
Voted very strongly for the hunting ban. votes
Voted very strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws. votes
Voted very strongly for a stricter asylum system. votes
Voted a mixture of for and against a more proportional system for electing MPs. votes
Voted a mixture of for and against greater autonomy for schools. votes
Voted moderately for a smoking ban. votes
Voted very strongly for introducing ID cards.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/dari_taylor/stockton_south
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician who was the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Stockton South between the 1997
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
and 2010 general elections.
Biography
Taylor was born into a staunch Labour Party family in RhonddaRhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...
, South Wales in December 1944. She originally attended Ynyshir Girls' School before moving to Burnley Municipal College when her father, Daniel Jones
Dan Jones (politician)
Daniel Jones was a British Labour Party politician, and Member of Parliament for Burnley from 1959 to 1983....
, was elected to Parliament as the Labour MP for Burnley
Burnley (UK Parliament constituency)
Burnley is a borough constituency centred on the town of Burnley in Lancashire, which is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
in 1959. He remained the MP for Burnley until 1983. She attained a BA from the University of Nottingham
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
and an MA from the University of Durham, then lectured at a number of colleges of Further Education.
She was active in the Trade Union movement
Trade unions in the United Kingdom
Trade unions in the United Kingdom were first decriminalised under the recommendation of a Royal Commission in 1867, which agreed that the establishment of the organisations was to the advantage of both employers and employees...
from 1990 until her election. She initially worked as a researcher and later becoming the Regional Educational Officer for the GMB Union
GMB Union
The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom, and has more than 600,000 members. Its members are drawn from many sectors, with particular strength amongst manual workers in local government and the health service...
in the Northern Region in 1993. She was also an elected member of Sunderland Metropolitan Council between 1986 and the time of her election to Parliament in 1997.
She describes her interests as issues relating to women, health, the economy, industry, defence, international development, disabilities, drugs and crime and all aspects of child welfare, especially adoption.
Parliamentary career
Taylor was selected to stand for election for Labour through an all-women shortlistAll-women shortlists
The use of all-women shortlists is the political practice intended to increase the proportion of female Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom by allowing only women to stand in particular constituencies for a particular political party. Though the practice is available to all parties, only...
. This method of selection was subsequently declared illegal in January 1996 as it breached sex discrimination laws, Despite the ruling she remained in place as the candidate for the following year's election. Taylor was elected as Member of Parliament for Stockton South in 1997, until losing the seat at the 2010 General Election.
Taylor served as Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to Lewis Moonie and Lord Bach (Ministry of Defence) from 2001-03 and then as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Hazel Blears
Hazel Blears
Hazel Anne Blears is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Salford and Eccles since 2010 and was previously the MP for Salford since 1997...
, Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
minister between 2003 and 2005. Her latest such position was again as a Parliamentary Private Secretary, to Phil Hope
Phil Hope
Philip Ian "Phil" Hope is a British Labour Co-operative politician who was the Member of Parliament for Corby from 1997 until 2010, when he lost his seat to the Conservatives. He held several ministerial roles during his time as an MP. Since his defeat, he is working as a consultant for Age...
at the Department of Health 2008-09.
She was the Chairman of the North East Regional Select Committee
North East Regional Select Committee
The North East Regional Select Committee was one of nine regional select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The establishment of the committee was agreed by the House of Commons on 12 November 2008, following the appointment of 'regional ministers' by Gordon...
and a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee
Intelligence and Security Committee
The Intelligence and Security Committee is a committee of parliamentarians appointed by the Prime Minister to oversee the work of the Intelligence machinery of the United Kingdom...
. Taylor is secretary of Labour Friends of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Vice-chair of the Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
Group and the treasurer for the Opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Group.
In terms of her work with children she is Chair of the Adoption and Fostering Group, Secretary for the Cardiac Risk in the Young Group and Vice-chair of the Children Group.
Misuses of stationery
In early November 2008 Taylor was found guilty of misusing House of Commons stationery for political purposes, with four complaints about her upheld. Of particular note was the fact that this was the second occasion Taylor had committed such offences, having been already been forced to repay for misused stationery and postage in April 2007.A House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges
Committee on Standards and Privileges
The Standards and Privileges Committee of the United Kingdom House of Commons was established in 1995 to replace the earlier Committee of Privileges...
stated:
"We strongly deprecate the continued misuse by Ms Taylor of House stationery for political purposes...we are surprised that an experienced Member has repeated previous breaches of the rules and has failed to act in accordance with advice given by the House authorities. We particularly regret the fact that Ms Taylor has continued to dispute parts of the Commissioner's findings and we are very disappointed that she has offered no apology. We conclude that Ms Taylor should pay the House authorities the sum of £500 and submit an unequivocal written apology. "
Taylor suggested that the rules were too "confusing" and that she had "tried her best" to stick to them. She complied with the orders of the committee.
Expenses
In 2006 on not being top of north east MP expenses Ms Taylor,the MP for Stockton South, said she was disappointed not to be higher in the list.Referring to her position behind Dr Kumar and Sharon Hodgson, Mrs Taylor said: "I want to know what Ashok and Sharon are doing better than me."I am not surprised I am up there; I am disappointed I am not number one !.http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/990995.Blair_bottom_of_the_pile_as_expense_claims_revealed/In 2007 was The second costliest MP in the North East region (Stockton South), who claimed £159,178, putting her in 24th place in the Westminster league table.http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1787812.Region_s_most_expensive_MP_revealed_after_claims_released/
In May 2009, Taylor attracted some criticism for her expenses claims, in particular for claiming £18,100 over four years for food - the maximum possible claim. She also claimed £54,329 for mortgage interest payments over four years on her two-bedroomed London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
apartment, £40 per month for a cleaner to perform light housekeeping duties and £310 for tiling a bathroom She was one of the 98 MPs who voted to keep MPs' expenses secret. She was one of the few MP's to publish their expenses independently but had blacked out the parts that would upset Her Voters.
Voting record
Taylor strongly supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. She supports a fully elected House of Lords and
bills which favoured a partially elected alternative. She is in favour of nuclear power and the replacement of Trident. She is described as a "Labour loyalist"
Repeatedly voted against the Gurkas
Voted for automatic enrolment in occupational pensions. votes
Voted very strongly for encouraging occupational pensions. votes
Voted strongly for removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords. votes
Voted moderately against a wholly elected House of Lords. votes
Voted very strongly for more EU integration. votes
Voted very strongly for introducing foundation hospitals. votes
Voted moderately for laws to stop climate change. votes
Voted very strongly for replacing Trident. votes
Voted very strongly for the Iraq war. votes
Voted very strongly against an investigation into the Iraq war. votes
Voted against increasing the rate of VAT. votes
Voted strongly for equal gay rights. votes
Voted very strongly for allowing ministers to intervene in inquests. votes
Voted very strongly for university tuition fees. votes
Voted moderately against a transparent Parliament. votes http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1411411.Outrage_after_MPs_vote_for_secrecy/
Voted very strongly for the hunting ban. votes
Voted very strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws. votes
Voted very strongly for a stricter asylum system. votes
Voted a mixture of for and against a more proportional system for electing MPs. votes
Voted a mixture of for and against greater autonomy for schools. votes
Voted moderately for a smoking ban. votes
Voted very strongly for introducing ID cards.
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/dari_taylor/stockton_south