The 'unfailing courtesy and kindness' of David Taylor

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Parliamentary researcher Matt Mulley pays tribute to David Taylor MP, who passed away on December 26 2009.

As a young researcher I was applying for a job with the Hon. Member for Stockton South, Mrs Dari Taylor.

In preparation, I decided to look up her profile on the Guardian's Aristotle pages.

She was described thus: "Amiable, principled, rumpled backbencher whose ties never match his shirts."

The error has long since been rectified, but there was never any doubt as to whom they were referring.

Whether opposition backbencher, government whip, constituent or staff, David Taylor treated everyone with unfailing courtesy and kindness.

There are few people who could have harboured such a visceral antipathy to the Tory Party's ideals and yet been so well liked and respected by its members.

Similarly, his open defiance of the government was always principled and considered; never just for effect. Thus he won, if not their affection, then at least the respect of the whips.

He was also a conscientious Parliamentarian. Keen to show he had not shirked the difficult votes, he would lambast government policy but could never bring himself to support a Tory motion.

To that end he would often vote both ways in the division, a practice which was eventually dubbed a 'Taylor abstention.'

He helped with the House-keeping as a member of the Chairman's panel, and served on a number of other select committees and All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs).

It's difficult to pick out an issue of which he was a particular champion, as he threw his heart and soul into rectifying anything he saw as injustice.

He did, however, lead the Smoking and Health APPG in the fight for anti-smoking legislation and lately in combating smoking among young people.

What couldn't escape the notice of all who heard him speak in the Chamber was his propensity for crafting a mischievously-worded but nevertheless incisive question.

Once, a while after I had finished working for him, I sent an email congratulating him on his alliterative alacrity after Business Questions. He responded, 'I am gratified by your grace, grandiloquence and generosity.'

He was utterly selfless, and at times he sometimes carried too much of the weight of the world, and of others' expectations, on his shoulders.

But I will remember him as a man who saw the best in everyone, kind and caring, charismatic and chaotic, who will be sadly missed.

While no words can bring comfort to David's family during this difficult time, we can at least hope his legacy in some way ameliorates their loss.

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