Edwin Taylor, JP (13 February 1905 – 25 September 1973) was a British master

baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

and politician from Bolton.

Bakery and Career

Taylor was educated at St John's School,

Wingates Wingates is a small settlement located in the town of Westhoughton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. The name is believed to mean 'a gate for the wind', and it seems likely as this is in an exposed position abo ...

, and Bolton Technical College. He left school when he was 13 and later on (30), he went into the bakery business and eventually opened his own bakery and confectioners' shop in his home town; keen to promote the business, he founded the Bolton and District Master Bakers' Association of which he became Chairman and eventually President. He was known locally as "the pie-man", or sometimes "The Dancing Pieman" because of his proficiency as a ballroom dancing champion."Personal Rating In The Bolton East By-Election", ''The Times'', 7 November 1960. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Taylor served in the Auxiliary Fire Service.

Municipal service

In 1940 Taylor was co-opted onto Bolton Town Council as a Conservative for Tonge Ward (elections having been suspended due to the outbreak of war). He lost his seat in 1945 but regained it in 1947. In 1952 he was made a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, and in 1955 he was elected as an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of Bolton. He was chosen as

Mayor of Bolton This is a list of the Mayors in England, Mayors of Bolton in the north west of England. The office of Mayor is a ceremonial, non-political post. As the Borough's First Citizen, the Mayor serves as the civic representative at a wide range of functi ...

in 1959-60 and served as Deputy Mayor the following year.

Byelection campaign

Philip Bell QC, the Conservative

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Bolton East, was appointed as a County Court Judge in the summer of 1960, which required a byelection to replace him. Taylor was chosen as the new candidate. The byelection saw the decision of the Liberal Party to field a candidate, which broke a local pact which had held for 10 years whereby the Liberals left the Bolton East seat alone, and in return the Conservatives did not stand in

Bolton West Bolton West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Chris Green, a Conservative. Constituency profile The seat is on the outskirts of Greater Manchester with fields making for separate villages ...

; the pact had achieved its objective of preventing the Labour Party from winning either.

Parliament

Taylor was elected by a margin of 641 votes over Labour candidate Robert Howarth, with the Liberal candidate

Frank Byers Charles Frank Byers, Baron Byers, (24 July 1915 – 6 February 1984) was a British Liberal Party politician who later became a life peer and Privy Councillor. Background Byers was born in Wallasey, Cheshire. He was the son of Charles Cecil By ...

securing a quarter of the vote. Dissension within the Labour Party over nuclear disarmament was thought to have helped Taylor win. On taking his seat, one Labour MP immediately recommended that Taylor should be put on the Kitchen Committee of the House of Commons. In his first year in Parliament, Taylor was much concentrated on fire safety after a fire in a club in Bolton killed 19 people. In 1962 he tabled an amendment calling on limits on the importation of cloth and yarn to prevent dumping by foreign competitors. He also joined the 1964 rebellion against the abolition of resale price maintenance. At the

1964 general election The following elections occurred in 1964. Africa * 1964 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1964 Central African Republic parliamentary election * 1964 Central African Republic presidential election * 1964 Dahomeyan general election * 1964 Gabo ...

, a more organised Labour campaign in Bolton East saw Taylor voted out by a margin of more than 3,000 votes (with the Liberals simultaneously losing Bolton West by roughly the same margin).

Subsequent career

Taylor subsequently fought the 1966 general election attempting to regain his seat. In May 1973 he was elected to Greater Manchester County Council, but died four months later.

References

*M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. IV (Harvester Press, 1981) *''The Times''

External links

Famous Boltonians
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Edwin 1905 births 1973 deaths People from Bolton Mayors of Bolton Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1959–1964 British bakers Conservative Party (UK) mayors