News reaches The Voice that Peter Taylor, currently Watford’s Deputy Mayor, has been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate to contest next year’s Mayoral election in Watford. Peter, who currently serves as Dorothy Thornhill’s Deputy Mayor, lives in Watford with his wife Rachael and their three children and has served as a councillor for Oxhey since 2012.
Peter is assistant director of a national network of over 2000 schools and has previously worked as a teacher and as a researcher in the Houses of Parliament.
Peter said:
I am honoured to have been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate to be Watford’s next Mayor. Dorothy has been an inspirational Mayor for our town. Under her leadership Watford has been transformed into a family-friendly place, with high quality local services and a strong local economy.
But there is always more to do and there are many new challenges ahead of us. I believe I have the vision, energy and commitment to ensure Watford continues to move forward. I’m looking forward to getting out on the doorstep and involving as many local people in my campaign as possible.
I love Watford and it would mean so much to me to be the mayor of this wonderful town.
Outgoing mayor Dorothy Thornhill said:
I am delighted that Peter will be standing to be our next Mayor. As my deputy he has worked closely alongside me and has brought fresh ideas, enthusiasm and expertise to my team.
If you have met Peter you’ll know how passionate he is about Watford and our communities. Whether volunteering at his church, helping the Friends of Oxhey Park, or being involved with some of our town’s wonderful charities, Peter is dedicated to helping others fulfil their potential and making our town the very best it can be.
Being Mayor is a tough job, with a multi-million pound budget to manage and difficult decisions to make. Our next Mayor needs to be somebody with the experience, innovative thinking and perseverance to take our town forward, deal with our biggest challenges and ensure Watford continues to punch above its weight.
He is a proud Watford resident who will fight our town’s corner at every level. I am looking forward to campaigning all year round for Peter – he’d make a fantastic Mayor.
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9 Comments
Peter Taylor is a credit to our party and his community.
He is a good and popular man, in his profession, he shows you can be liberal and Christian, in his politics , you can be sensible and elected as well !
Lorenzo “he shows you can be liberal and Christian, in his politics”
The day you can’t be a Liberal and a Christian is the day I walk out of this party. I happen to be a lapsed Methodist agnostic – BUT – there should be tolerance of all religions in this party. Some of the comments about Tim’s Christianity from some who should have known better in the party (and in the media) made me wince.
Good luck! Put the call out and I’m sure you will get lots of help!
David Raw 27th Jul ’17 – 12:49pm: All the major religions have, at some stage, come to the same religious principle, “Do unto others as you would they should do unto you” [according to Karen Armstrong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Armstrong%5D
David Raw
I agree, and want you to see my comments on the Joan Baez video, you kindly posted , that say I do not want you to walk out !
You may not know it but Peter , who I have not met but respect, was one of the members trying not to tar faith schools with a brush they don’t deserve.
He works in Catholic education.
Like him I am from a Catholic background.
Like you I am what some call lapsed, I call versatile , in that I do not reject that faith , I am open to all that are good.
David, if you read my comments at the time, I was scathing in my stance against the demonising of Christian views not understood or even tolerated.
I , like you , believe we lack morality in our politics today.Not the Mary Whitehouse kind of thing at all, but the sense of good vs bad , must be somewhere in us.
My two British film – making heroes, Brian Forbes and Richard Attenborough , in their fruitful partnership , and individual attitudes , both had no problem, with nudity and the like , if appropriate, or enjoyed, but were staunch in their opposition to what they called “the pornography of violence .”
I believe there is a tendency since the proliferation of the more violent and idiotic type of video games , gaining popularity , for that violence to be dodgy. It has become too common in online content, some find acceptable. It is necessary to debate it.
Some spokespeople for our party have been too libertarian at times , there is concern about violence , particularly as it affects the young, and treatment of women in society.
I like liberty in all matters ,that do not harm others , including in sexuality. But there is a difference between the pornography that isn’t vile, and the pornography of violence !
It is why , even though I do not always agree with her solutions or stances, I respect Floella, our Baroness Benjamin, in her work.
I am one , as you know , believes very much in the Mill view of live and let live, unless you do harm.
That means respect and equality for all , regardless of anybody’s sexual orientation and religious organisation.
The whole one size fits all notion is not my kind of thing at all, whether secular obsessed or religious.
ORANGE DIAMONDS
I wish Peter Taylor well. However, can we please seriously consider having a different sort of photo opportunity image than those rather tired black and orange diamonds. It makes people look awkward and embarrassed and we badly need a face lift for the future image.
A fresh image please.
This whole argument as to whether being a Christian and a liberal are compatible seems to be based on the assumption that there is a single homogeneous brand of Christianity. Like all main stream religions, Christianity has many guises, and some of them are definitely not compatible with being a liberal in the 21st century in a western European country. As for the Catholic Church, while Pope Francis has many fine qualities, his view of Catholicism is certainly not compatible with liberalism, even if on some issues liberals may agree with his views.
You would get a lot more joy on the compatibility front if you said you were a believer in the ethos of Jesus Christ rather than the Christian church that purports to represent him.
I am not sure why anyone has to talk about religion! It’s the liberal values and a mayor who works for ALL the Watfordians including the ones who may have not voted for him. I wish Peter well.