Tributes in Parliament

Quotations reproduced from Hansard:

I know that the House will also want to join me in sending our condolences to the wife and children of David Taylor who, sadly, died on Boxing day. He was a tremendous constituency Member of Parliament who thoroughly deserved the accolade of Back Bencher of the Year for his tireless work for the people of North-West Leicestershire. He will be greatly missed, not only by his family who are here in the House today, but by colleagues in Westminster and all his constituents.  Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Prime Minister's Questions, 6 January

I also join the Prime Minister in paying tribute to David Taylor and his contribution to public service. We, too, send our condolences to his wife and children. He was diligent, decent and determined. As one obituary brilliantly put it, he "was that rare thing among politicians: someone who was liked and admired equally by his constituents, his parliamentary colleagues and his political opponents." He will be sadly missed. Mr. David Cameron (Witney) (Con)

David was a highly assiduous, principled and independent-minded Member who respected the House and was respected by it. Truly, he was a House of Commons man, and I am sure that Members on both sides of the House will join me in mourning the loss of our colleague and in extending our sympathy to his widow Pam, his daughters Rachel, Sarah, Jessica and Catherine, his wider family and his many friends. Mr. Speaker, 5 January 

You, Mr. Speaker, have paid tribute, on behalf of the House, to David Taylor, as did the Prime Minister and the leaders of the Opposition parties yesterday. I should like to add my tribute as Leader of the House. There is an empty space up on that Back Bench today. [Hon. Members: "Hear, hear."] We will miss his contributions, not least at this time every Thursday. The good that he did as an MP will endure in the improved lives of the many, many constituents he personally helped. More widely, the good that he did in this House will endure-for example, his private Member's Bill, the Management of Dementia in Care Homes Bill, laid the basis for, and lives on in, our national dementia strategy. He is a big loss to his family and also to the House. Harriet Harman, Leader of the House

May I thank the right hon. and learned Lady for next week's business, and also for what she said about David Taylor, which I strongly endorse? In an age in which the standing of the Chamber has
diminished, and in which the Chamber lies empty for much of the day, he was often assiduous in his attendance and he was an independent contributor to our debates, including, of course, in his regular appearance at business questions. He was a good parliamentarian and will be much missed. Sir George Young, Shadow Leader of the House

We often joined David for dinner in the dining room where I was a recipient of his robust advice on what we'd got right – which was usually a brief part of the conversation – and what we needed to do better, which was quite a lengthy part. There's been much reference to him being a backbencher. He was a member of this House and followed in its most honourable tradition, of representing fearlessly his constituents, and he will be very sorely missed. Jack Straw, Justice Secretary

I begin by echoing your views, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the House, and to say how sorry we are not to see David Taylor in his place today. As well as a valued colleague, he was a magistrate and an assiduous attender of Justice questions. I am sure that he will be missed on both sides of the House. Maria Eagle, Minister of State, Ministry of Justice

Our proceedings certainly will not be the same without David Taylor, and he will be missed on both sides of the House. Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)
 

May I join colleagues who have expressed their sentiments about David Taylor-a true parliamentarian in every sense of the word? Mr. Shailesh Vara (North-West Cambridgeshire) (Con)

May I add a word of sorrow about the death of David Taylor? He has left us a legacy, through his independence, courage and hard work, that will act as a model for all future Back Benchers. Paul Flynn (Newport, West) (Lab) 

May I, too, express my sadness at the tragic loss of David Taylor? His integrity and independence will be much missed. Mr. Michael Wills, Minister of State, Ministry of Justice 

Like you, Mr. Speaker, I shall miss David Taylor, a fellow Back Bencher of the year. Rob Marris (Wolverhampton, South-West) (Lab)

I, too, add my condolences to the family of David Taylor, who was indeed an excellent parliamentarian. Bridget Prentice, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice

In expressing my sadness at the death of Mr. David Taylor, I draw the attention of the House to the excellent work that he did on flood prevention, which is a subject very dear to my heart. Mr. Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con):
 

I am sure that the whole House will want to join me in paying tribute to my hon. Friend the former Member for North-West Leicestershire who sadly died on Boxing day and whose hugely well attended funeral took place on Saturday. He was a strong campaigner on behalf of children in this country and regularly made significant contributions to our education debates….he was also deeply committed to investing in and reforming our school system in order to deliver for all children, which was a regular part of his contribution. He will be sorely missed in this House. Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families

I should like to put on record the sadness of my party at the death of the former hon. Member for North-West Leicestershire, Mr. David Taylor. He was much respected across the House and he will be fondly remembered not only by Labour Members, but by Opposition Members, and our thoughts are with his family at this time. David Laws (Lib Dem Education spokesperson)


This is my first chance in the Chamber to pay my tribute to my dear friend and colleague, David Taylor. As fellow east midlands MPs with similar constituencies and both active in our union group, Unison, I know of his humanity, his kindness, his ability to take the mickey, the way in which he put forward ideas and campaigned, and his commitment to public services and education.

At his funeral on Saturday in the village of Heather where he lived, I saw the primary school that he went to. One of his local council colleagues told me how proud David was to see the extension and the building work that had been done at that school under Labour, and the pride that it gave him to know that he had helped push for that and to see it happen on his watch, so to speak. I spoke to a couple of head teachers at the football pavilion where we met afterwards, who told me about all the support that David had given as a continuing member of one of the school's governing bodies, and how he had managed to visit two thirds of his schools in just one term.

I talked to one of the heads about a neighbouring sports specialist school in Leicestershire, at which I spoke when I went to one of those Sunday "Politics Show" programmes last year. We talked about the Government pledge to provide pupils with sports and arts opportunities in all schools. That is included in the very welcome guarantees in the Bill. David would have strongly supported those.

In that programme pupils at the school talked about the different ways in which sports and music could be provided. It does not have to be traditional sports. It could be anything from the oz boxing programme in my constituency set up by a couple of police with local pupils, which won a Daily Mirror award, to dance to different forms of music, an activity in which it is easy to get pupils engaged. We know how music and sports can feed back into educational attainment. I have seen it at first hand through, for example, some of the ways in which pupils in my constituency have got involved in sports development programmes. The value that they gained from that has fed back into their academic achievement. Providing guarantees that we will see such programmes is important and valuable.

David would not have welcomed everything in the Bill. I am sure that in his inimitable style, he would probably have made some caustic comments about academies, which as my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, North-East (Mr. Purchase) pointed out, were not necessarily to David's taste. I know that he would have welcomed the continuing thrust towards providing support and encouragement for every child, no matter how disadvantaged, to reach their full potential. Judy Mallaber (Amber Valley) (Lab)

May I just say how much we will miss David Taylor at our Health questions and health debates? He was always here, and always had good insights and real commitment to the national health service. He will be much missed, as he was a good colleague to us all. Mr. Andrew Lansley (South Cambridgeshire) (Con)

I would like to begin by echoing the shadow Health Secretary's remarks about David Taylor, who was a regular attender at Health questions and health debates; I am sure that his voice will be sorely and genuinely missed by Members on all sides of the House. Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Health