Jackson George Taylor (born 1991/1992) is an Australian politician and former

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

councillor. He has been a Labor Party member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

since November 2018, representing the electorate of

Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

. Taylor worked as a police officer before entering politics, and served as deputy mayor of Knox City Council.

Career

In 2016, Taylor was elected to Knox City Council in Collier Ward, with a margin of 5.85%. In 2018, he became the deputy mayor of the council. For five years, Taylor was a serving member of

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victor ...

, stationed at Glen Waverley and Lilydale, as well as spending time in the Family Violence Unit. When he was pre-selected by the Labor Party to run for state parliament, he was serving as a police prosecutor, with the rank of senior constable. At the age of 26, Taylor won his seat at the 2018 state election, with a margin of just 0.4%. He had been preselected by the Victorian Labor Party less than a month out from polling. Over the second term of the Andrews Labor Government, Taylor ran a successful campaign to fund a full rebuild of the CFA fire station at The Basin, and secured funding for projects in many schools in the electorate, including the Bayswater Education Plan, which encompassed several schools. In his inaugural speech, Taylor detailed experiences in his childhood around witnessing family violence, substance abuse and his mother's mental health battles, as well as his time in out of home care. Taylor discussed how the power of education and support from teachers provided "direction" and "purpose" during his early life. Taylor is a member two committees in state parliament - the Integrity and Oversight Committee and Legal and Social Issues Committee. He was re-elected at the

2022 Victorian state election The 2022 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2022 to elect the 60th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly (lower house) and all 40 seats in the Victorian Legislat ...

, overcoming a boundary redistribution that made the seat of Bayswater notionally Liberal-held to defeat Nick Wakeling with a nearly five percent swing in his favour. Originally a member of

Labor Right The Labor Right (LR), also known as Labor Forum, Labor Unity or simply Unity, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social democratic to Third Way economic policies ...

, Taylor defected to

Labor Left The Labor Left (LL), also known as the Progressive Left, Socialist Left or simply the Left, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social progressivism and democra ...

along with six of his colleagues shortly after the 2022 Victorian state election. The defection of he and his colleagues meant that the Labor Left constituted a majority of the state Labor caucus.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians Politicians from Melbourne Labor Left politicians Australian police officers {{Australia-Labor-Victoria-MP-stub