Richard Taylor: consultant rheumatologist who became an independent MP, standing on an anti-NHS privatisation ticket

In the uneventful general election campaign of 2001, Richard Taylor’s victory in the seat of Wyre Forest stood out. Taylor, a retired rheumatology consultant, was that rare beast in British politics—an independent MP who was elected not once but twice, regaining his seat in 2005.

Taylor’s path to Westminster lay in the new Labour government’s plans to downgrade Kidderminster Hospital, where he had worked for more than 20 years. He was horrified that it would lose its emergency department and nearly 200 beds, meaning patients would have to travel 18 to 35 miles to Worcester General Infirmary, which was being rebuilt under the government’s flagship private finance initiative.

Local opposition to the government’s plans was huge. Taylor became involved with a group called Health Concern, which had won 11 seats on the local council, through the hospital’s League of Friends. Few expected him to take the campaign to the national stage, however, particularly as the downgrading of the hospital had already taken place by the time the election was called.

Undeterred, Taylor fought on a ticket of anti-NHS privatisation and—as a well known local doctor, and aided by the Liberal Democrat candidate’s decision to stand aside—beat the incumbent, David Lock, a junior government minister and one of just six Labour MPs to lose their seats in the 2001 election. Taylor polled 28 487 votes compared with Lock’s 10 857.

In his victory speech Taylor spoke directly to the government. “You cannot ride roughshod over a local community’s feelings without rebellion. They have used the ballot box—the only weapon left to people who have been totally disregarded,” he said.

Taylor’s election was greeted with glee by those on both the left and right who disliked new Labour’s increasing dictatorialism. The Oldie magazine awarded him campaigner of the year in 2002. “If someone had told me two years ago that I, a hack hospital physician, would be here among heroes like Eric Sykes I would have told them that they were mad,” he said on accepting the award.

While Taylor was unable to save his local hospital from being downgraded he did have an impact. A Conservative MP made way so that he could have a seat on the Health Select Committee, where his expertise was valued. Commentators began to refer to the “Kidderminster effect,” where communities opposing health cuts were emboldened to take political action. Taylor was one of the founders of the National Health Action Party in opposition to the later Conservative government’s health and social care bill. The party fielded several candidates at later elections, although none enjoyed Taylor’s success.

Taylor had never been party political and his independence in parliament meant he was mostly able to vote with his conscience, after having assiduously researched the matter. He voted against going to war with Iraq and the introduction of identity cards, for example. He said he had voted for all three of the main parties at some point in his lifetime, but his strongest convictions were about protecting the founding principles of the NHS.

Taylor was born in 1934 near Manchester to mill owners on his father’s side and doctors on his mother’s. He went to the Leys School in Cambridge and then Clare College, Cambridge, and Westminster Hospital.

After house jobs in London Taylor did national service with the Royal Air Force, spending June to September 1963 on Christmas Island, where the UK government had carried out nuclear testing in the 1950s.

In 1972 he was appointed consultant rheumatologist at Kidderminster Hospital where he remained until his retirement in 1995. As one of three lead consultants he also did general medicine and probably treated thousands of local people and their families over the years—hence his celebrity when campaigning.

His family describe an old fashioned physician who “lived and breathed” the hospital, spending many nights and weekends there.

He was a strong believer in the “firm” as a model of medical training and enjoyed teaching. One of the highlights of his year was taking trainees out for a meal and then to the opera in Birmingham—he would invite them to his home a few days beforehand where they would listen to a recording so they could familiarise themselves with the piece.

He had three children with Anne, a nurse he had met in London, but they divorced in the 1980s. In 1990 he married Christine Miller, who worked for a firm of architects, and, to their surprise and delight, she became pregnant, giving birth to a daughter in 1993. Marriage to Chris re-energised Taylor and she was supportive of his political ambitions.

When he regained his seat in the 2005 election, although on a reduced majority, he said he didn’t realise how much he “wanted to retain the enormous privilege that you gave me four years ago.” He lost to the Conservative Mark Garnier in 2010 and unsuccessfully stood again in 2015.

He had a varied life outside politics. In 2009 he became president of the charity Leukaemia Care and was also interested in Victorian watercolours and vintage cars.

He leaves Chris, three daughters, a son, and five grandchildren.