Dari Jean Taylor (''née'' Jones; born 13 December 1944) is a British
Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for
Stockton South between the
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
and
2010 general elections.
Biography
Taylor was born into a staunch Labour Party-supporting family in
Rhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (, 'large') and t ...
, South Wales, in December 1944. She attended Ynyshir Girls' School before moving to Burnley Municipal College when her father,
Daniel Jones, was elected to Parliament as the Labour MP for
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...
in 1959. He remained the MP for Burnley until 1983. She graduated with a BA from the
University of Nottingham
The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948.
Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...
and an MA from the
University of Durham
Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...
, then lectured at a number of colleges of Further Education.
Taylor was active in the
Trade Union movement
The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...
from 1990 until her election to Parliament in 1997. She initially worked as a researcher and in 1993 became the Regional Educational Officer for the
GMB Union
The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 560,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National Health Service (N ...
in the Northern Region. She was also an elected member of
Sunderland Metropolitan Council between 1986 and the time of her election to Parliament.
She describes her interests as issues relating to women, health, the economy, industry, defence, international development, disabilities, drugs and crime and all aspects of child welfare, especially adoption.
Parliamentary career
Taylor was selected to stand for election for Labour through an
all-women shortlist
All-women shortlists (AWS) is an affirmative action practice intended to increase the proportion of female Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom, allowing only women to stand in particular constituencies for a particular political p ...
. Taylor was elected as Member of Parliament for Stockton South in 1997, until losing the seat at the 2010 general election.
Taylor served as
Parliamentary Private Secretary to
Lewis Moonie and
Lord Bach (Ministry of Defence) from 2001 to 2003 and then as Parliamentary Private Secretary to
Hazel Blears
Hazel Anne Blears (born 14 May 1956) is a British former Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) successively for the constituencies of Salford and Salford and Eccles between 1997 and 2015.
One of 101 female ...
,
Home Office
The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...
minister between 2003 and 2005. Her latest such position was again as a Parliamentary Private Secretary, to
Phil Hope
Philip Ian Hope (born 19 April 1955) is a former British Labour and Co-operative politician who was the member of parliament (MP) for Corby from 1997 until 2010, when he lost his seat to the Conservatives. He held several ministerial roles dur ...
at the
Department of Health
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...
in 2008–09.
She was the chairman of the
North East Regional Select Committee
The North East Regional Select Committee was one of nine regional Select committee (United Kingdom), select committees of the British House of Commons, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The establishment of the committee w ...
and a member of the
Intelligence and Security Committee
The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) is a statutory joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, appointed to oversee the work of the UK intelligence community.
The committee was established in 1994 by the ...
. Taylor was secretary of Labour Friends of
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, Vice-chair of the
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
Group and the treasurer for the Opera Group.
Whilst in Parliament, Taylor was Chair of the Adoption and Fostering Group, Secretary for the Cardiac Risk in the Young Group and Vice-chair of the Children Group.
Controversies
Misuses of stationery
In early November 2008 Taylor was found guilty of misusing
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
stationery for political purposes, with four complaints about her upheld.
Of particular note was that this was the second occasion Taylor had committed such offences, having already been forced to repay for misused stationery and postage in April 2007.
A House of Commons
Committee on Standards and Privileges
The Standards and Privileges Committee is a former committee of the United Kingdom House of Commons that existed from 1995 to 2013. The committee was established in 1995 to replace the earlier Committee of Privileges. It consisted of 10 Members o ...
stated:
"We strongly deprecate the continued misuse by Ms Taylor of House stationery for political purposes...we are surprised that an experienced Member has repeated previous breaches of the rules and has failed to act in accordance with advice given by the House authorities. We particularly regret the fact that Ms Taylor has continued to dispute parts of the Commissioner's findings and we are very disappointed that she has offered no apology. We conclude that Ms Taylor should pay the House authorities the sum of £500 and submit an unequivocal written apology. "
Taylor suggested that the rules were too "confusing" and that she had "tried her best" to stick to them. She complied with the orders of the committee.
Expenses
In 2006, on the subject of not being top of north east MP expenses, Taylor said she was disappointed not to be higher in the list. Referring to her position behind Dr Kumar and Sharon Hodgson, Taylor said: "I want to know what Ashok and Sharon are doing better than me."
In 2007, Taylor was the second costliest MP in the North East region (Stockton South), claiming £159,178, and putting her in 24th place in the Westminster league table.
In May 2009, Taylor attracted some criticism for her expenses claims, in particular for claiming £18,100 over four years for food – the maximum possible claim. She also claimed £54,329 for mortgage interest payments over four years on her two-bedroomed London apartment, £40 per month for a cleaner to perform housekeeping duties and £310 for tiling a bathroom. She was one of the 98 MPs who voted to keep MPs' expenses secret. She was one of the few MPs to publish their expenses independently, but had blacked out the parts that revealed staffers' personal details.
Voting record
Taylor strongly supported the
2003 invasion of Iraq. She supports a fully elected House of Lords and bills which favoured a partially elected alternative. She is in favour of nuclear power and the replacement of
Trident
A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...
.
She is described as a "Labour loyalist".
Personal life
She married David Taylor in July 1970 and they have one daughter. She enjoys classical music, walking and travelling.
References
External links
Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Dari Taylor MPTheyWorkForYou.com – Dari Taylor MPBBC Politics page
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Dari
1944 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Nottingham
Alumni of Durham University
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Labour Friends of Israel
People from Rhondda
Councillors in North East England
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
Welsh politicians
20th-century British women politicians
21st-century British women politicians
20th-century English women
20th-century English people
21st-century English women
21st-century English politicians
Women councillors in England