Before being elected for Esher in 1987, Taylor had fought Coventry South East in February 1974, being beaten by Labour'sBill Wilson. In the period in which he served Esher the make-up of the seat was classified by economists as a 'natural home' for Taylor's party, and by historians as a safe seat including its main successor which he served from 1997 to 2010. This is part of the London Commuter Belt, and quite apart from this, has seen strong Conservative majorities since the 1930s, Taylor won five elections before deciding to stand down at the 2010 General Election to resume a business career. He was during his first two terms appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Foreign Office, Department of Health and Cabinet Office. He served as Minister for Science and Technology for most of the Second Major ministry: from 1994 to 1997. He became a Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland in 1997, tracking the peace process. He supported bids for leadership and main policies of Kenneth Clarke except in the 2005 Conservative leadership contest he backed David Davis. Taylor was the Chairman of the European Movement and a member of the Britain in Europe Council until 2005. He chaired the Conservative Group for Europe 2007–11. His views became increasingly challenged by the Conservative Party. In December 2000 he comfortably overcame an attempted by eurosceptics in his constituency. He specialised in science and technology issues. He was Minister for Science, Technology & Space at the DTI during 1994–1997 in a Conservative Government. During this time he dealt with a wide variety of issues, including providing support for the next phase of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, increasing awareness of the importance of access to the early internet revolution and coordinating Government support for the Roslin Institute which led to the Cloning of Dolly the Sheep and the creation of the in February 1997. He was Chairman of the Conservative Policy Task-force on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics 2005–2009. He chaired the all-Party Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, which includes the Parliamentary Engineering Group. He was also an officer of several all-party Parliamentary committees, including the Office of Science & Technology, the Information Society Alliance, PITCOM and the Corporate Social Responsibility Group. He was a member of the Commission on National Security 2007–09. He was a Visiting Parliamentary Fellow at St. Antony's College Oxford in the Hilary Term 2007, lecturing on energy security. He chaired the European Movement 2000–05 and the Conservative Europe Group 2007-11 and also in 1985–88. He also chaired the Cuba Initiative 2006–2011. In 2003, he was one of only 15 Conservative MPs who voted against the Iraq War. During the 2019 General Election, he declared that he had become an Independent Conservative and explained in an open letter why on balance he supported the LibDem candate in Esher & Walton. https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/conservative-party/news/108173/dominic-raabs-tory-predecessor-urges-voters From 1997 until 2010, he was a non-executive director of or adviser to various companies.
Space industry and research contributions
In 2008, Ian Taylor gained the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Individual Achievement in Promoting Space and Science. He was co-chair of the Parliamentary Space Committee and in 2009 he chaired the European Inter-Parliamentary Space Conference.
Expenses
In 2009, Taylor was not accused of any wrongdoing in the expenses scandal.
Career after leaving Parliament
Taylor has become chairman of two companies, on the board or advisory board of others. He was on the Government's Science & Technology Facilities Council 2011–2018, on an ESA Advisory Board, chaired the National Space Academy steering group until 2018 and is Chair of The League of Remembrance.
Personal life
Taylor married Carole Alport in 1974 and they have two sons.
Award
In 2008, he was the winner of the Sir Arthur Clarke Award for Best Individual Achievement. This was for his work in promoting UK space activity, including his position as co-chair of the Parliamentary Space Committee, and also for his efforts to promote the uptake of STEM subjects in UK education.
