Matthew Taylor, Baron Taylor of Goss Moor

Matthew Taylor is the adopted son of Kenneth Taylor, a television script writer best known for The Jewel in the Crown and The Camomile Lawn.

In 2008 he traced his birth mother and learnt that his great-grandfather had been another Liberal MP Sir Percy Harris who served later as an allied-Progressive MP.[1]

Taylor was educated first at St Paul's Primary School in Truro and then two independent schools: Treliske Preparatory School (now known as Truro School Prep)[2] on Highertown (A390) in Truro, and University College School in Hampstead, north London, followed by winning a scholarship to Lady Margaret Hall at the University of Oxford where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics.[3]

Politically active from a young age, Taylor campaigned in his first general election in 1979 at the age of sixteen and joined the Cornwall anti-nuclear alliance a year later to campaign against a nuclear power station proposed to be built in the County. He involved himself in environmental and civil liberties campaigns whilst at sixth form. After winning a scholarship, he studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.At the end of his degree, he was elected as President of the Oxford University Student Union for the year 1985–86 on the Liberal/SDP Alliance ticket.

In 1986 he was assigned to the then Truro MP David Penhaligon as an economics policy researcher, but after Penhaligon died in a car crash at the end of that year, Taylor was selected to run as the Liberal candidate in the subsequent by-election, which he won in early 1987. Three months later he retained the seat at the 1987 general election. Aged 24, he was the youngest sitting MP at the time and took the title "Baby of the House" from fellow Alliance MP Charles Kennedy, holding the title for 10 years until 1997. His celebrity status gave him early access to political media and television programmes including the BBC's Question Time, while being an MP in a small party brought quick promotion to the front bench as local government spokesman.

After the break up of the SDP Liberal Alliance in 1987-8 and the new 'Social and Liberal Democratic Party' coming behind the Greens in the 1989 European Elections, Taylor was asked by Paddy Ashdown to take on the leadership of Party Communications and rebrand the Party. In the role 'Chairman of Communications'(1989-92)he put together and led a small group of outside experts including Jeremy Bullmore (then deputy to Martin Sorrell at WPP, and former Creative Head at J Walter Thompson), Rodney Fitch (founder of design agency RS Fitch), and Derek Martin (founder director of Martin Hamblin Research), and together they created the Liberal Democrats brand and branding, including the new name and the Bird of Liberty logo. Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously mocked the new logo as a 'Dead Parrot'(referencing a famous Monty Python sketch) in her 1990 Conference speech - only to see her party humiliated the following day with the Liberal Democrats winning the Eastbourne by-election, a previously safe Conservative seat. Taylor's role was expanded to a new role of 'Chairman of Campaigns and Communications' (1992-94), responsible for key campaign themes and policies, Party Broadcasts, and oversight of by-elections, national election campaigns and campaign themes, during which time the Party continued to win by-elections such as Newbury and Christchurch and achieved a record tally of General Election seats. He later continued his Campaigns and Policy oversight as Party Chairman (2003-5) under Charles Kennedy, the Party again achieving record election results, and wrote the Party's 2001 and 2005 General Election manifestos.

From 1990-1994 Taylor was also the Party's Education Spokesman, authoring the Liberal Democrat's most well known policy position at that time, to commit to increase basic rate Income Tax for Eduction. From 1992-4 he was asked to focus on his Communications and Campaigns Chairmanship, to build the Party's campai=gning success and act as a Party Spokesman. He then moved to be Environment spokesman 1994-7, committing the party to a switch to environment taxes (specifically a carbon tax) mitigated by a cut in VAT, under the slogan 'we won't tax more, but we will tax differently'. In this role he won the Green Magazine award for 'Most effective environmental MP' in 1996.

Taylor also had a successful track record in backing leaders of his party, including Paddy Ashdown and Charles Kennedy, whose successful leadership campaign Taylor helped shape as Kennedy's Campaign Chairman in 1999 after Ashdown stepped down. His reward was to be made the party's Treasury spokesman (1999-2003) by Kennedy, in which role he attacked Labour over its decision in the March 2000 budget to shed a penny from the basic rate of income tax,[4] and announced the policy of raising the upper rate to 50% for people earning over £100,000.[5]

After being replaced in the Treasury role by Vince Cable MP in 2003, Taylor became Party Chairman. In this role he returned formally to his leading role in Party Campaigns and Communications, though as author of the 2001 General Election manifesto and the Party's Shadow Chancellor he had away had a key part in this thought the Kennedy leadership) and was tasked with writing the 2005 General Election maniofesto. He was one of a small number of people dealing with Charles Kennedy's problems with alcohol, eventually giving Kennedy an ultimatum that if he failed to address the issue he would have to stand down as leader.

After the 2005 General Election where Kennedy's alcohol issues had become an increasing impediment, Taylor stepped back from a leading role in the Party, refusing a shadow cabinet position. He stood for the Deputy Leadership in 2006 and was defeated by Vince Cable by just one vote. Cable had argued that Taylor was a potential leadership candidate and the Deputy position should not be occupied by someone with Leadership ambitions. In fact Cable went on to be leader, whereas Taylor had decided already he would not stand gain. After the birth of his son Arthur, he announced in 2007 that he would not be seeking re-election to parliament and did not stand in the 2010 general election.[6] The Truro and St Austell constituency he represented was then abolished after a boundary review.

After the 2010 General Election the Liberal Democrats secured a significant increase in Peerages reflecting their General Election success propelling them into coalition government. Taylor received one of these life peerage in the 2010 Dissolution Honours and his title was gazetted as Baron Taylor of Goss Moor, of Truro in the County of Cornwall on 16 July 2010. Taylor now sits as a Liberal Democrat peer in the House of Lords.[7] but takes no Party roles, working instead with successive Governments on planning policy reforms

Lord Matthew Taylor has now advised successive governments on planning and housing policy for over a decade. In 2007 after he had announced he would not be standing again for reelection as an MP, he was approached by the new Prime Minister Gordon Brown (who he had shadowed when Chancellor of the Exchequer) to conduct a review of the Rural Economy. Taylor asked to extend this to include housing, and focus on planning policy reform. He published this Government rural planning review as “Living Working Countryside’ in summer 2008. Although initiated and then supported by the Labour Government, it drew the attention of Conservative Party policy makers and laid many of the foundations for the subsequent Government’s National Planning Policy Framework and Neighbourhood Planning, on both of which Taylor helped officials devise after 2010.

In 2011-12 he was then asked by Planning Minister Greg Barker and his successor Nick Bowles to lead the Government's review of all the planning practice guidance sitting behind the NPPF In this role Taylor created the new National Planning Practice Guidance suite, replacing hundreds of documents amounting to 6000 pages, some as much as 30 years old, with a new single online resource.

In 2015 he developed his ‘Garden Village’ proposal, published by Policy Exchange, for enabling local authorities to support new sustainable mixed use communities to meet housing need, rather than encircle towns and villages with more and more poor quality housing estates. Taylor argued this built on the thinking of Ebenezer Howard's Garden Cities, and the post war New Towns, but in a 21st century context of sustainable development. The proposal was adopted as national policy by the new Conservative Government at the March 2016 Budget.

Taylor continues to informally advise Government, Homes England and local authorities, and runs his own consultancy business (Taylor & Garner Ltd) advising the public and private sector on a significant number of major new ‘garden community’ projects, focusing on new settlements, sustainable urban extensions and urban renewal projects.

Alongside his planning work, Taylor became chair of the National Housing Federation (representing the UK's 1200 charitable Housing Associations) from 2010-2016. He was also elected President of the National Association of Local Councils 2016-18 (representing England's Town and Parish Councils). Taylor has been made an Honorary Member of the RTPI, Visiting Professor of Planning at Plymouth University, and Senior Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University’s School of Planning

Outside Housing and Planning, Taylor was a Non-Exectutive Director of South West Water 2010-2020 and now chairs their 'WaterShare+' customer panel. He is also Chairman of Kensa Group, the UK's leading manufacturer and installer of Ground Sourced Heating systems, originally focused on social housing retrofit to deliver lowest carbon lowest cost to run heat for low income tenants, but now also delivering to new build at scale using networked shared ground arrays to offer zero-carbon ready heating.

Taylor married Vicky Garner, a former director of pressure group Surfers Against Sewage, in 2007. The couple have three sons.

In November 2007, Taylor and his wife established their own company, Taylor & Garner Ltd, in Roche, Cornwall, to provide consultancy services.[8] Vicky Garner resigned from the business in 2017.[9]

• Matthew Taylor MP Official site
• Matthew Taylor MP Profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
• ePolitix.com – Matthew Taylor
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Matthew Taylor
• Guardian Politics – Ask Aristotle: Matthew Taylor MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com – Matthew Taylor MP
• The Public Whip – Matthew Taylor Voting record
• BBC News – Matthew Taylor profile 16 March 2006