1961 Magazine Fall 2016

PERSON OF STYLE & SUBSTANCE
answers, I suppose, from the MuchMusic generation.
All that said, I had to, of course, get “Mr. Google’s”
opinion on this Lord Taylor of Warwick fellow. Much to
my amazement, what I found was a British politician
with somewhat of an interesting story, one that took
me to multiple articles, personal publications and this,
http://www.lordtaylor.org/, his own website affixed with
Twitter and Facebook links and his own blog. Hmmm…
not what I expected from an English Lord. Also, given
my impression of the staleness and lily white nature of
English politics, I certainly did not expect Lord Taylor
to be the son of Jamaican immigrants. I assumed that
he had a background in law, which he does, but would
never have guessed that this English Lord had also
acted as a television presenter, had hosted his own
radio show on BBC 2, anchors as The Soul Baron on
UK music radio and is philanthropically involved with
UK organizations which promote cultural diversity and
raise awareness of cyberbullying. Hold on a second.
Is this man actually in touch?
Fast forward to the parliamentary terrace on the River
Thames, where I am sitting across from Lord Taylor of
Warwick having a spot of tea with my pinky finger raised
(I of course want to fit in). Lord Taylor is a very well
dressed and charming fellow with an almost fatherly
sort of smile which puts me at ease straight away. He is
remarkably well mannered, polished and very articulate.
His manner is at first subdued when discussing the
logistical nature of the British parliamentary system.
Lord Taylor is one of roughly 800 “Lords” in parliament
who are appointed twice per year by the Queen on the
advice of the Prime Minister. It is a position that you
keep for life, (not bad job security if you can get it)
and whose role it is to review Bills put forth from the
House of Commons. Discussing his day to day seems
a bit humdrum to him as he details his morning of
replying to correspondences from within parliament
and without, followed by an afternoon of debates, bill
ratification and voting. I am bored just thinking about
it. It is when he considers his own personal journey,
and the platform which his position has granted him
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Fall 2016 1961 Magazine