John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick

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] His full title is "The Lord Taylor of Warwick".[3] In 1996, at the age of 44, he became one of the youngest people in the upper house.[4]

For other people named John Taylor, see John Taylor (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable
The Lord Taylor of Warwick
Official UK Parliament photo, 2018
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
2 October 1996
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born
John David Beckett Taylor

(1952-09-21) 21 September 1952
Birmingham, England
Political partyNon-affiliated
Other political
affiliations		Conservative (before 2010)
SpouseLaura Colleen Taylor
Websitewww.lordtaylor.org

He is the third person of Afro-Caribbean origin to enter the House of Lords. Taylor initially practised as a barrister, and served as a part-time deputy district judge (magistrates' courts). Following the UK parliamentary expenses scandal he was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, relating to £11,277 in falsely claimed expenses, and was subsequently disbarred.[5] He has also been a company director and television and radio presenter.[6][7]

He is a Christian,[8] 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 Citizens' Association).[9][10][11][12]

Early life

Born in 1952, Taylor was the son of Jamaican immigrants in Birmingham.[7] His father, Derief Taylor, was a professional cricketer and coach for Warwickshire, and his mother, Enid, was a nurse.[7] 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.[7]

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.[13] Taylor undertook his pupillage at 1 Dr Johnson's Buildings,[6] and then joined the same chambers as the future Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke.[7] Taylor practised from there on the Midland & Oxford Circuit.[6] In 1997, Taylor was appointed as a part-time district judge (Magistrates' Court).[8] He was disbarred after his conviction and imprisonment[14] related to the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal.

Political

In the 1980s, Taylor turned to local politics and was elected to Solihull Council for the safe Conservative ward of St Alphege at a by-election in 1985 and was re-elected for a 4 year term in May 1988. He contested Birmingham Perry Barr for the Conservative Party at the 1987 general election, losing by 6,933 votes. He was selected by Conservative Party's Central Office to become the Conservative candidate for Cheltenham at the 1992 general election.[8] The campaign was seen as having been influenced by race,[8][15] with Taylor's Caribbean background reportedly causing concern to some members of the local Conservative Party constituency association, which was completely split by the issue.[4] Conservative Central Office expelled association members over the issue.[16] John Major, then Prime Minister, campaigned for Taylor in Cheltenham,[17] but he lost the seat to Nigel Jones of the Liberal Democrats by 1,668 votes, the first time since 1950 Cheltenham had not voted for a Conservative candidate and the first time since December 1910 it had voted for a Liberal-aligned candidate.

Taylor was made a life peer as Baron Taylor of Warwick, of Warwick in the County of Warwickshire on 2 October 1996,[18] on the recommendation of Prime Minister John Major.[4] At 44, he became one of the youngest life peers to sit in the House of Lords at the time.

Other activities

In 2016, he appeared on the Fox News channel to discuss the potential impact of Britain leaving the European Union (Brexit).[19]

Other positions he has held include:[13]

False accounting convictions
Main article: United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal

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.[25] 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[26][27] 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.[28]

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.[29] The judge imposed a sentence of 12 months' imprisonment, relating to £11,277 in falsely claimed expenses;[14] he also said that the expenses scandal had "left an indelible stain on Parliament".[14] About 15 members of the House of Lords refused to give evidence to support Taylor's defence.[14]

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,[30] and in 2009 he married an evangelical Christian from the US. That marriage lasted 24 days and was annulled in 2010.[8][30] In 2015, Taylor married Laura Colleen Taylor,[10] another US national.[31]

References
  1. "Biographies: Lord Taylor of Warwick". Parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  2. "Life & Soul - Lord John Taylor of Warwick". 6 March 2014.
  3. "Contact information for Lord Taylor of Warwick - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk.
  4. "Profile: Lord Taylor of Warwick". BBC News. 30 April 2001. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  5. "Expenses cheat Lord Taylor of Warwick banned from practising as a lawyer". Daily Telegraph. London. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  6. Wambu, Onyekachi (2011). John Taylor Lord Taylor of Warwick. RHCP Digital. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  7. "Profile: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Updated)". BBC.co.uk. london: BBC News. 30 April 2001. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  8. Caroline Gammell and Martin Beckford (25 January 2011). "Lord Taylor of Warwick: profile of the first black Tory peer". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  9. "House of Lords, Register of Lords' Interests".
  10. "Dods People. Political Reference Data for the UK and EU".(registration required)
  11. Black Who's Who. London, England: Ethnic Media Group. 1999. p. 93. ISBN 0-9533744-1-6.
  12. Vaz, The Rt Hon Keith, ed. (2014). Rainbow Over Westminster. HANSIB. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-906190-77-4.
  13. "About Me". Lord Taylor of Warwick Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  14. "Ex-Tory peer jailed over expenses". BBC News. 31 May 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  15. Green, David Allen (25 January 2011). "The fall of John Taylor". New Statesman. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  16. Rule, Sheila; Times, Special To the New York (6 December 1990). "Tories in Uproar Over Black Candidate". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  17. "1992: John Major climbs onto his soapbox". 30 March 1992 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  18. "No. 54549". The London Gazette. 11 October 1996. p. 13541.
  19. "UK Parliament Member: 'Brexit'". 4 February 2017.
  20. "Lady Digby Appointed Chancellor". Bournemouth University Press Release. Bournemouth University. 6 November 2006. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  21. "BBFC Appoints New Vice Presidents". BBFC Press Release. British Board of Film Classification. 14 July 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  22. "Legislative Members of The International Trade Council". Archived from the original on 25 July 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  23. "UK Parliament, Lord John Taylor".
  24. "The Warwick Leadership Academy". Archived from the original on 18 September 2016.
  25. "MP expenses leak 'not for money'". BBC News. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  26. "Full list of MPs' expenses repayments". BBC News. London. 4 February 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  27. Beckford, Martin (19 November 2009). "First female Muslim peer Baroness Uddin claimed £100,000: MPs' expenses". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  28. Evans, Martin (20 September 2011). "Expenses MPs and their sentences: how long each served". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  29. "Lord Taylor guilty of making false expenses claims". BBC News. London. 25 January 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  30. 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.
  31. "Lord & Lady Taylor of Warwick". www.lordtaylor.org. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
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