Constituency : Truro and St Austell 1987-2010
Matthew retained Truro by a huge majority following the death of David Penhaligon.
Matthew was the adopted son of a TV scriptwriter. He later learned that his great-grandfather was Liberal MP Percy Harris. He was educated at Treliske Preparatory School and Oxford. He was President of the Student Union in 1985-6. He became an economics researcher for David Penhaligon then was selected to replace him at the age of 24. He was Baby of the House for the next 10 years.
Matthew was made local government spokesman then Treasury spokesman after organising Charles Kennedy's leadership campaign. After being replaced by Vince Cable, his career stalled and with a young family and anticipating boundary changes, he announced he was standing down in 2007. This allowed him to take on a role as the government's special adviser on sustainable rural communities. His report, the Taylor Review, had 46 of its recommendations adopted by the Brown government.
Within the party, Matthew was chairman of the campaigns and communication team for many years . He co-wrote the 2001 manifesto and wrote the 2005 manifesto,
Matthew became Baron Taylor in 2010. He now works as a business consultant and chairman of the National Housing Federation. Although well regarded within the party, he never achieved his full potential as a national politician. He regularly appeared on TV but his penchant for partisan point-scoring didn't do him any favours.
He is now 56.
No comments:
Post a Comment