Matthew Taylor (born 5 December 1960) is a British former political strategist and current Chief Executive of the

NHS Confederation The NHS Confederation, formerly the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts, is a membership body for organisations that commission and provide National Health Service services founded in 1990. The predecessor organisation was calle ...

, having previously led the

Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

(RSA) in the United Kingdom between 2006 and 2021. In 2005, he was appointed by incumbent Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

as head of the

Number 10 Policy Unit The Number 10 Policy Unit is a body of policymakers based in 10 Downing Street, providing policy advice directly to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, British Prime Minister. Originally set up to support Harold Wilson in 1974, it has gone ...

. He is a writer, public speaker and broadcaster who has been a panellist on BBC Radio 4's '' Moral Maze'' since 2008. In October 2016, he was appointed Chair of the Review of Modern Employment established by Prime Minister Theresa May; the Taylor Review report ''Good Work'' was published in July 2017. A response to the report was published in Feb 2018 by Rt Hon Greg Clark MP then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Background

Taylor is the only son of the sociologist and broadcaster Laurie Taylor and the historian Jennie Howells. He was educated at

Emanuel School Emanuel School is a private, co-educational day school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded in 1594 by Anne Sackville, Lady Dacre and Queen Elizabeth I and today occupies a 12-acre (4.9 ha) site close to Clapham Junction ...

, the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

and

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

. He has three children. While at the

, Taylor wrote about Claire Holland's involvement in the 1983 CND badge controversy, which gained national attention.

Career

Taylor became a Labour Party Warwickshire county councillor, and unsuccessfully sought to become the Labour Party Member of Parliament for

Warwick and Leamington Warwick and Leamington is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the 2017 general election by Matt Western of the Labour Party. Boundaries 1885–1918: The existing parliamentary borough of Warwick, the ...

in the 1992 general election. In 1994 he was put in charge of the Labour Party's rebuttal operation, becoming a Campaign Co-ordinator and Director of Policy during the 1997 general election. He helped to write the Labour Party manifesto, the pledge-card, and developed Excalibur, a rapid rebuttal database for use against the Conservative Party. Taylor became Assistant General Secretary of the Labour Party under Margaret McDonagh, but after clashes with her left in December 1998. Between 1998 and 2003, Taylor was the Director of the left of centre think tank the

Institute for Public Policy Research The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is a Progressivism, progressive think tank based in London. It was founded in 1988 by Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick, Lord Hollick and John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, Lord Eatwell, and is an independen ...

, and in 2003 the Labour Prime Minister

appointed him head of the

, giving him the task of drawing up the Labour Party's manifesto for the May 2005 general election. Following the re-election of the Labour government he became Chief Adviser on Strategy to the Prime Minister. Taylor was involved in several initiatives to engage the public with the political process, and played a role in developing the Labour Party's "Big Conversation" discussion forums. He left in 2006 to become Chief Executive of the charity the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

. He remained there until 2021. Taylor has been awarded honorary degrees from the universities of

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

and

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

, and is a visiting professor at

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham Government School of Design, which still opera ...

. He has sat on a number of Governmental committees and inquiries on topics including higher education in Wales, the role of elected councillors, innovation in children's services and spinning out public services as social enterprises. Matthew Taylor was interim Director of Labour Market Enforcement from August 2019 to January 2021. He is a regular panellist on Radio 4's ''Moral Maze'', devised and presents the discussion programme, ''Agree to Differ'', which was first broadcast in 2014, and is an occasional presenter of ''Analysis''. His opinion pieces have been published in several national newspapers, he has a monthly column with the

Local Government Chronicle The ''Local Government Chronicle'' (''LGC'') is a British weekly magazine for local government officers, and is published by Metropolis. The magazine was launched in 1855 by bookseller and publisher Charles Knight. It was then published by Em ...

, writes occasional book reviews for

Management Today Haymarket Media Group is a private media company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has publications in the consumer, business and customer sectors, both print and online. It operates exhibitions allied to its own publications, and pr ...

and has contributed extended essays to publications such as

Political Quarterly ''The Political Quarterly'' is an academic journal of political science that first appeared from 1914 to 1916 and was revived by Leonard Woolf, Kingsley Martin, and William A. Robson in 1930. Its editors-in-chief are Ben Jackson (University of ...

and written pamphlets and chapters for a number of books. As well as his annual RSA Chief Executive lecture, he is a regular public speaker on topics including public service reform, social trends and education policy. He has chaired lectures and conferences for many organisations including the RSA, the Heritage Lottery Fund,

Intelligence Squared Intelligence Squared is a media company that organizes live debates and other cultural events around the world. It was founded in 2002 in London, where its head office is based, and has affiliates in the US, Australia, and Hong Kong. The debate ...

and the Cabinet Office. In December 2020, he announced that he would be standing down from the RSA in 2021, subsequently being appointed as Chief Executive of the

In 2024 he has argued for a renewed social contract for health and integrated care systems.

Honours

In 2016, Taylor was elected a

Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used t ...

(FAcSS). He was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2019 Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

for services to employee rights.

References

External links

Matthew Taylor's blog

Column archives
at

Journalisted The Media Standards Trust is a British media think tank formed in 2006. It carries out research on issues in the media sector. It also advocates for press freedom as well as industry quality, transparency and accountability. It is a registered cha ...

Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (The RSA)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Matthew 1960 births Living people Alumni of the University of Southampton Alumni of the University of Warwick British special advisers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Councillors in Warwickshire Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences Labour Party (UK) officials New Labour People educated at Emanuel School