Talk:Paddington South (UK Parliament constituency)

Taylor in 1931
Was he fighting as an avowed Conservative candidate or as a National one? A few other independents and one-man shows ran as National Government supporters in this election. Timrollpickering 16:56, 30 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Difficult to say. He was officially endorsed by the South Paddington Conservative Association and by the National Union, but there may be a difference between who endorses the candidate and how the candidate describes their own politics. The Times correspondent on The Friday 16 October 1931 (p. 8) reported "In South Paddington Vice-Admiral Taylor is presenting the case for Empire Free Trade, and the Conservatives are not officially intervening" which suggests something different. He is however presented as a Conservative in all contemporary lists and guides that I have found. In The Times House of Commons it is said in a parenthetical sentence after the result of the 1930 byelection "Vice-Admiral Taylor, returned in 1930 as Ind., is now an official Unionist". Next time I am in the Westminster Archives Centre I will check the contemporary local newspapers (no election addresses survive there) to see how he described himself. Fys. &#147;Ta fys aym&#148;. 23:35, 30 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Oh, and "Who's Who of British MPs" says that Taylor accepted the Conservative (not 'National') whip in September 1931, ie before the dissolution. Fys. &#147;Ta fys aym&#148;. 23:37, 30 May 2007 (UTC)