Richard Thomas Taylor,
MPA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
,
FRCPThe Royal College of Physicians of London was the first medical institution in England to receive a Royal Charter. It was founded in 1518 and is one of the most active of all medical professional organisations...
(born 7 July 1934) is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
doctor turned politician,
IndependentIn politics, an independent is a politician who is not affiliated with any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do not feel that any major party addresses...
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
for
Wyre ForestWyre Forest is a county constituency 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.- Boundaries :...
.
The son of Thomas Taylor and his wife Mabel Hickley, Taylor was educated at
The Leys SchoolThe Leys School is a co-educational Independent school, located in Cambridge, England, and is both a day school and boarding school for over 520 pupils aged between 11 and 18 years...
- interestingly, it was the same school as fellow Independent Member of Parliament
Martin BellMartin Bell, OBE, is a British UNICEF Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician.-Background:...
, who was two years below him. Taylor then went to
Clare CollegeClare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on the "the Backs"...
CambridgeThe University of Cambridge , located in the City of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, is the second oldest university in the English-speaking world and the fourth oldest in Europe...
, and the former Westminster Medical School, now part of the
Imperial College School of MedicineThe Imperial College School of Medicine is the medical school of Imperial College London in England, and one of the United Hospitals....
.
- 1959-1961: Registrar at Westminster Hospital, London
[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
- 1961-1964: Medical Officer, Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
- 1964-1972: Hospital doctor in London hospitals
- 1972-1995: Consultant physician, Kidderminster General Hospital
Before entering politics, Taylor was a member of the local Health Authority, chairman of Kidderminster Hospital League of Friends (1996-2001), and a committee member of the Save Kidderminster Hospital Campaign (1997-2001).
Standing for Parliament as an
Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health ConcernIndependent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern is a political party based in Kidderminster, United Kingdom...
candidate at the
2001 general electionThe UK general election, 2001 was held on 7 June 2001 and was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media. There was little change at all - outside Northern Ireland - with 620 out of 641 seats remaining unchanged. Labour enjoyed its second so-called 'landslide victory' in a row, maintaining its...
, Taylor campaigned largely on a single issue, that of keeping Kidderminster Hospital open, and won with a majority of 18,000.
Richard Thomas Taylor,
MPA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
,
FRCPThe Royal College of Physicians of London was the first medical institution in England to receive a Royal Charter. It was founded in 1518 and is one of the most active of all medical professional organisations...
(born 7 July 1934) is an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
doctor turned politician,
IndependentIn politics, an independent is a politician who is not affiliated with any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do not feel that any major party addresses...
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
for
Wyre ForestWyre Forest is a county constituency 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.- Boundaries :...
.
Background and education
The son of Thomas Taylor and his wife Mabel Hickley, Taylor was educated at
The Leys SchoolThe Leys School is a co-educational Independent school, located in Cambridge, England, and is both a day school and boarding school for over 520 pupils aged between 11 and 18 years...
- interestingly, it was the same school as fellow Independent Member of Parliament
Martin BellMartin Bell, OBE, is a British UNICEF Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician.-Background:...
, who was two years below him. Taylor then went to
Clare CollegeClare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on the "the Backs"...
CambridgeThe University of Cambridge , located in the City of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, is the second oldest university in the English-speaking world and the fourth oldest in Europe...
, and the former Westminster Medical School, now part of the
Imperial College School of MedicineThe Imperial College School of Medicine is the medical school of Imperial College London in England, and one of the United Hospitals....
.
Medical career
- 1959-1961: Registrar at Westminster Hospital, London
[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
- 1961-1964: Medical Officer, Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
- 1964-1972: Hospital doctor in London hospitals
- 1972-1995: Consultant physician, Kidderminster General Hospital
Parliamentary career
Before entering politics, Taylor was a member of the local Health Authority, chairman of Kidderminster Hospital League of Friends (1996-2001), and a committee member of the Save Kidderminster Hospital Campaign (1997-2001).
Standing for Parliament as an
Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health ConcernIndependent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern is a political party based in Kidderminster, United Kingdom...
candidate at the
2001 general electionThe UK general election, 2001 was held on 7 June 2001 and was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media. There was little change at all - outside Northern Ireland - with 620 out of 641 seats remaining unchanged. Labour enjoyed its second so-called 'landslide victory' in a row, maintaining its...
, Taylor campaigned largely on a single issue, that of keeping Kidderminster Hospital open, and won with a majority of 18,000. He defeated the incumbent
LabourThe Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been seen since 1920 as the principal party of the Left in England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern Ireland, where it has only recently begun to organise again...
MP and junior minister,
David LockDavid Anthony Lock is a barrister and politician in the United Kingdom. He was educated at Esher Grammar School, Woking Sixth Form College, Jesus College, Cambridge , Central London Polytechnic and went on to Gray's Inn as a Wilson Scholar in 1985.He was elected Labour Member of Parliament for...
. He was aided in this success by the Liberal Democrats' decision not to put up a candidate against him, and instead to support his campaign. The Liberal Democrats had previously stood down to aid the election of another independent 'anti-sleaze' candidate
Martin BellMartin Bell, OBE, is a British UNICEF Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician.-Background:...
in
TattonTatton is a county constituency 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.- Boundaries :...
in
1997The UK general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992. The Labour Party won the general election in a landslide victory with 418 seats, the most seats the party has ever held...
.
He was re-elected at the
2005 electionThe United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect members to the House of Commons.The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a reduced overall majority of 66 and they failed to gain any new seats...
with a reduced majority of 5,250; again the Liberal Democrats stood aside. Labour were pushed into third place in his constituency. He is the first independent MP to retain a seat in the House of Commons in a second election since
Frank MaguireMeredith Francis Maguire was an Independent Republican Member of Parliament in Northern Ireland.Born in Lisnaskea and educated in Athlone, Maguire worked in his youth in a pub owned by his uncle, future Nationalist Party politician John Carron...
in 1979.
While his speeches in the Commons have been mostly confined to the health service, he has also laid out an atypical collection of political views. These non-health policies include
Section 28Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 was a controversial amendment to the United Kingdom's Local Government Act 1986, enacted on 24 May 1988 and repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of the UK by section 122 of the Local Government Act 2003...
, the renationalisation of the
British railway systemThe United Kingdom consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and previously consisted of Great Britain and the whole of Ireland. Rail transport systems developed independently on the two islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and most of the railway construction in the Republic of Ireland was...
, and the availability of
cannabisCannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa L., Cannabis indica Lam., and Cannabis ruderalis Janisch. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for medicinal purposes, and as a...
as a controlled drug. He also opposed the Iraq war.
Personal life
In 1962, Taylor married Ann Brett and they had one son and two daughters. After this marriage was dissolved, in 1990 he married secondly Christine Miller and with her had a further daughter.
He currently resides in
KidderminsterKidderminster is a town in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town...
.
External links