It’s 18 months since David Taylor died.
The grief and shock at his wholly unexpected heart attack was accompanied by the regret at the sadness of his final months. David, the retiring MP for North West Leiscestershire, was unfairly dragged into the maelstrom of the Commons Expenses scandal in spite of his deeply honourable behaviour. Inevitably some of his obituaries were ‘google’ derived accounts of the recent publicity that had deeply wounded him. He told a fellow MP a fortnight before his death, that the malicious reporting of his expenses claims would eclipse all the good he had done.
I undertook to write a biography on him. My previous books have all been written during the August Parliamentary Recesses - the only periods when I have the time to do serious writing. Last August I did a great deal of preparatory work interviewing David’s family and friends. They were very generous with their time and very open and revealing in providing me with details of David’s remarkable personality. This August I will finish the writing.
My original hope was that drawing attention to this model MP I could inject a little balance into the justified hostility that the expenses scandal generated. The more I learn about David’s life, the more I admire him. A hagiography would not be a page-turner so I must include some of his foibles and failings. The expenses scandal outrage has not faded because of the continuing publicity. At least one further MP is facing a possible jail sentence. Publishing the book too early would be swimming against the tide of public opinion.
The tentative title for the book is ‘The Clock-winder who couldn’t say no.’
All will be explained later.
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