Teddy Boy Blue

On visits to Scotland, 28 years after leaving Glasgow, Teddy Taylor is still greeted with cries of "I know who you are!" Despite being away for so long, he always seems to be recognised. Modest and self-effacing, he is remembered fondly by many across Scotland who could not support his politics, but admired and respected his commitment to his constituents, a philosophy he continued in Rochford and Southend until his retirement. Here is the man who climbed out of a graveyard with Enoch Powell, who asked Norman Tebbit not to tell people that he was a Conservative, who initiated contact with Libya during its period of isolation, who resigned from Ted Heath's government over the Treaty of Rome, and who, along with seven other M.Ps, was expelled from the Conservative Party for a period of time by John Major. This gentle autobiography of a schoolboy who fell into politics, then served forty one years of his working life as an M.P. in Scotland and England, will surprise and fascinate those who respect integrity and hard work. It must also intrigue young people who are thinking of following a political career.