Teddy Taylor
Encyclopedia
Sir
Edward MacMillan Taylor, usually known as Teddy Taylor (born 18 April 1937 in Glasgow
), is a British
Conservative Party
politician who was a Member of Parliament
(MP) from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart
and from 1980 to 2005 for Rochford and Southend East.
He was a leading member and sometime Vice-President of the Conservative Monday Club
.
, Taylor was a journalist on the Glasgow Herald and a Glasgow City Councillor from 1960. He first entered Parliament in the 1964 election
as MP for Glasgow Cathcart
, at the time being the youngest MP
. He became a Scottish Office
minister in Edward Heath
's government. He resigned from this position in protest at the British signup to the EEC
. Thanks to his strong personal following he held onto what was a working-class constituency in Cathcart, one of only two Conservative seats in Glasgow in the 1970s.
and later Labour
MP, memorably wrote that calling him by a nice cuddly name like "Teddy
" was "like calling the hound of the Baskervilles
'Rover'".
at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Rome (which he opposed) and remained one of its staunchest supporters well into the 1990s. On behalf of the Club, in June 1974, he launched an attack on vandalism, saying in the House of Commons that those who defaced public buildings with aerosol paint should be made to clean the buildings themselves. He sought leave to introduce a Bill in parliament in October 1974 to restore capital punishment
. The following January, referring to the murder of a London policeman by an IRA
gunman, he said that "the answer was return of capital punishment, and added that "if the police want arms, no government could now refuse". He was on the editorial board which prepared the Club's October 1985 Conservative Party Conference issue of their newspaper, Right Ahead, to which he contributed a lengthy article entitled How Tories are Subsidising the Soviet War Machine. On 30 March 1990 he was the guest speaker at the Club's Surrey branch 21st Anniversary Dinner. He was an Honorary Vice-President of the Club until at least 1992.
should follow the guidelines of the Social Contract
in any wage settlement. He said that the Labour government were being "thoroughly cowardly and hypocritical over the Social Contract" and asked the government spokesman in the House of Commons whether it was "just a sick joke".
, served as her Shadow
Secretary of State for Scotland
, and it is expected that he would have become her Secretary of State for Scotland if he had held his seat at the 1979 election
.
following the death of Sir Stephen McAdden
then, from 1997, representing Rochford and Southend East
. He did not serve in government after his return but received a knighthood in 1991.
, the re-introduction of capital punishment
, and of judicial corporal punishment
of young offenders (birching
, abolished in 1947). During John Major
's government, he was one of the Maastricht Rebels
and was expelled from the parliamentary party.
Taylor stood down at the May 2005 general election
.
comedy panel show Have I Got News for You
where he didn't seem to understand the light-hearted nature of the programme and used its forum for serious political debate. However, he redeemed himself with the revelation that he was a big fan of Bob Marley
, an announcement which led to an invitation to present the prizes at the British Reggae Awards a week later, which he accepted..
famous spoof interviews, and his cheerful and exuberant eccentricity was well received.
He is one of two surviving panel members of the first edition of the BBC programme Question Time
in 1979, the other being Edna O'Brien
.
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
Edward MacMillan Taylor, usually known as Teddy Taylor (born 18 April 1937 in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
), is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician who was a 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) from 1964 to 1979 for Glasgow Cathcart
Glasgow Cathcart (UK Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Cathcart was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 2005, when it was replaced by the larger Glasgow South constituency....
and from 1980 to 2005 for Rochford and Southend East.
He was a leading member and sometime Vice-President of the Conservative Monday Club
Conservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
.
Early career
After having been a pupil at the High School of GlasgowHigh School of Glasgow
The High School of Glasgow is an independent, co-educational day school in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded as the Choir School of Glasgow Cathedral in around 1124, it is the oldest school in Scotland, and the twelfth oldest in the United Kingdom. It remained part of the Church as the city's grammar...
, Taylor was a journalist on the Glasgow Herald and a Glasgow City Councillor from 1960. He first entered Parliament in the 1964 election
United Kingdom general election, 1964
The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...
as MP for Glasgow Cathcart
Glasgow Cathcart (UK Parliament constituency)
Glasgow Cathcart was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 2005, when it was replaced by the larger Glasgow South constituency....
, at the time being the youngest MP
Baby of the House
Baby of the House is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of a parliamentary house. The term is most often applied to members of the British parliament.-Australia:In Australia the term is rarely used...
. He became a Scottish Office
Scottish Office
The Scottish Office was a department of the United Kingdom Government from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland...
minister in Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
's government. He resigned from this position in protest at the British signup to the EEC
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
. Thanks to his strong personal following he held onto what was a working-class constituency in Cathcart, one of only two Conservative seats in Glasgow in the 1970s.
Early controversy
He was a controversial figure in his time in Scottish politics, known as Teddy "dial-a-quote" and "bring back the birch" Taylor. Brian Wilson, journalistJournalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and later Labour
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...
MP, memorably wrote that calling him by a nice cuddly name like "Teddy
Teddy bear
The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. They are usually stuffed with soft, white cotton and have smooth and soft fur. It is an enduring form of a stuffed animal in many countries, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items...
" was "like calling the hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of four crime novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England's West Country and tells the story of an...
'Rover'".
The Monday Club
He joined the Conservative Monday ClubConservative Monday Club
The Conservative Monday Club is a British pressure group "on the right-wing" of the Conservative Party.-Overview:...
at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Rome (which he opposed) and remained one of its staunchest supporters well into the 1990s. On behalf of the Club, in June 1974, he launched an attack on vandalism, saying in the House of Commons that those who defaced public buildings with aerosol paint should be made to clean the buildings themselves. He sought leave to introduce a Bill in parliament in October 1974 to restore capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. The following January, referring to the murder of a London policeman by an IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
gunman, he said that "the answer was return of capital punishment, and added that "if the police want arms, no government could now refuse". He was on the editorial board which prepared the Club's October 1985 Conservative Party Conference issue of their newspaper, Right Ahead, to which he contributed a lengthy article entitled How Tories are Subsidising the Soviet War Machine. On 30 March 1990 he was the guest speaker at the Club's Surrey branch 21st Anniversary Dinner. He was an Honorary Vice-President of the Club until at least 1992.
Scottish issues
As Opposition Front Bench Spokesman on Scottish Affairs, Taylor said in November 1974 that a general directive to the National Coal BoardNational Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
should follow the guidelines of the Social Contract
Social Contract (Britain)
The Social Contract is a term used to describe policy by the Labour government of Harold Wilson in 1970s Britain.In return for the repeal of 1971 Industrial Relations Act, food subsides and a freeze on rent increase, the TUC would be able to persuade its members to cooperate in a programme of...
in any wage settlement. He said that the Labour government were being "thoroughly cowardly and hypocritical over the Social Contract" and asked the government spokesman in the House of Commons whether it was "just a sick joke".
In Margaret Thatcher's Shadow Cabinet
He was close to Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, served as her Shadow
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...
Secretary of State for Scotland
Secretary of State for Scotland
The Secretary of State for Scotland is the principal minister of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Scotland. He heads the Scotland Office , a government department based in London and Edinburgh. The post was created soon after the Union of the Crowns, but was...
, and it is expected that he would have become her Secretary of State for Scotland if he had held his seat at the 1979 election
United Kingdom general election, 1979
The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...
.
Rejection by the electorate and a new seat
In the 1979 election, Glasgow bucked the British trend by showing a slight swing from Conservative to Labour and Taylor lost his seat, the only Conservative MP at that election (other than by-election victors) to do so. Taylor re-entered Parliament at a 1980 by-election for Southend EastSouthend East (UK Parliament constituency)
Southend East was a parliamentary constituency in Essex. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
following the death of Sir Stephen McAdden
Stephen McAdden
Sir Stephen James McAdden was a British Conservative politician.McAdden was educated at the Salesian School, Battersea and worked as an export sales manager and company director...
then, from 1997, representing Rochford and Southend East
Rochford and Southend East
Rochford and Southend East 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:...
. He did not serve in government after his return but received a knighthood in 1991.
Policies and retirement
He supported withdrawal from the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, the re-introduction of capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
, and of judicial corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
of young offenders (birching
Birching
Birching is a corporal punishment with a birch rod, typically applied to the recipient's bare buttocks, although occasionally to the back and/or shoulders.-Implement:...
, abolished in 1947). During John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
's government, he was one of the Maastricht Rebels
Maastricht Rebels
The Maastricht Rebels were British Members of Parliament belonging to the then governing Conservative Party who refused to support the government of John Major in a series of votes in the House of Commons on the issue of the implementation of the Maastricht Treaty in British law.The Maastrict...
and was expelled from the parliamentary party.
Taylor stood down at the May 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
.
Have I Got News for You
In 1994, Taylor made a memorably idiosyncratic appearance on the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
comedy panel show Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
where he didn't seem to understand the light-hearted nature of the programme and used its forum for serious political debate. However, he redeemed himself with the revelation that he was a big fan of Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
, an announcement which led to an invitation to present the prizes at the British Reggae Awards a week later, which he accepted..
Other media work
In 2002 Taylor was a 'victim' of Ali G'sAli G
Ali G is a satirical fictional character invented and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Originally appearing on Channel 4's Eleven O'Clock show, Ali G is the title character of Channel 4's Da Ali G Show, original episodes of which aired in 2000 and on HBO in 2003–2004, and is the...
famous spoof interviews, and his cheerful and exuberant eccentricity was well received.
He is one of two surviving panel members of the first edition of the BBC programme Question Time
Question Time
Question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers , which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be cancelled in exceptional circumstances...
in 1979, the other being Edna O'Brien
Edna O'Brien
Edna O'Brien is an Irish novelist and short story writer whose works often revolve around the inner feelings of women, and their problems in relating to men and to society as a whole.-Life and career:...
.
External links
- Facts about Teddy Taylor TheyWorkForYou.com