Labour Lord Tom Taylor Dies After Being Knocked Off Mobility Scooter Outside Westminster

The 87-year-old was hit by a van outside Parliament.
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Lord Tom Taylor of Blackburn before the State Opening of Parliament at the Palaces of Westminster.
Chris Harris/PA Archive

Labour peer Lord Taylor of Blackburn has died after he was knocked off his mobility scooter outside Parliament last week, a party spokesman said.

Lord [Tom] Taylor of Blackburn, 87, was hit by a van last Wednesday and was taken to hospital with injuries not initially thought to be life-threatening.

Baroness Smith of Basildon, the Lords Labour leader, said: “Tom Taylor had a life-long commitment to the Labour Party, through both local government and Parliament, and was held in high regard and with great affection by his party colleagues.

“Tom was a committed member of the House of Lords right through to the tragic circumstances which led to his death. We in the Labour peers group are very sad and will miss him dearly.”

Lord Taylor was leader of Blackburn Council during the 70s and was made a peer in 1978.

The driver of the van that hit him stopped at the scene but was not arrested.