Lord John Taylor

Lord John Taylor

Lord John David Beckett Taylor, the first black Tory peer was the son of a professional cricketer and a nurse (both Jamaican). He was educated at Moseley Grammar School in Birmingham and Keele University. He was called to the Bar in 1978, when he won the Gray's Inn Advocacy Award. In 1992, he unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary seat of Cheltenham for the Conservatives. He was created a life peer in 1996 - at the age of 42 - at that time making him one of the youngest and only black members of the House of Lords. While only in his first year in the House of Lords, he introduced and carried through all its stages a legislative bill which now sits on the statute bill as the Criminal Evidence Amendment Act. His interest in the media is evidenced by his role as Vice President of the British Board of Film Classification; Vice Chairman of The All Party Parliamentary Media Group and role as presenter with ITV, Sky and the BBC (e.g. Crime Stalker, BBC1's System on Trial with John Taylor, and The John Taylor Programme on BBC Radio 2. John Taylor was Special Advisor to the Home secretary and Minister of State in 1990-91. His portfolio included Inner Cities, Legal services and Crime prevention.

westindians

1952-09-21

Person

6238

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John

Taylor