Paul Tyler

Paul Archer Tyler, barón Tyler (nacido el 29 de octubre de 1941) es un político liberal demócrata del Reino Unido . Fue miembro del Parlamento (MP) de febrero a octubre de 1974 y de 1992 a 2005 , y ocupó un escaño en la Cámara de los Lores como par vitalicio hasta octubre de 2021.

Tyler recibió educación privada en la escuela independiente Sherborne School y en el Exeter College de Oxford . ^{[ 1 ]}

En 1964, Tyler fue elegido el concejal de condado más joven de Gran Bretaña, y reelegido en 1967. Fue vicepresidente del Comité del Parque Nacional de Dartmoor y miembro de la Autoridad Policial de Devon y Cornualles .

Su primera candidatura al Parlamento fue por Totnes en las elecciones generales de 1966 , donde quedó en tercer lugar.

En las elecciones generales de 1970 , Tyler se presentó como candidato liberal en la circunscripción de Bodmin , defendiendo el escaño que ocupaba el diputado liberal saliente Peter Bessell . Sin embargo, perdió ante el candidato conservador Robert Hicks .

At the February 1974 general election, Tyler defeated Hicks by a majority of only nine votes.^[2] At the October election that year, Tyler increased his vote, but not sufficiently to withstand the swing, and Hicks regained the seat with a majority of 665.^[3] Tyler stood again at the 1979 general election, but Hicks was re-elected with a large majority, in line with the national swing away from the Liberals and Labour to the Conservatives.

He contested the 1982 Beaconsfield by-election, increasing the Alliance vote and pushing the Labour candidate (Tony Blair) into third place. Tyler did not contest the general elections in 1983 and 1987, but was David Steel's campaign organiser in 1983, and was subsequently elected Chairman of the Liberal Party 1983–6; he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1985 Birthday Honours.^[4] In addition to his role as Campaign Adviser to Steel, he was a member of the Alliance Planning Group 1986–87, and the Campaign Team led by John Pardoe in the 1987 general election.

He was the Liberal Democrat candidate for Cornwall and Plymouth in the 1989 European Parliament election. He reduced the Conservative majority to 8.7%, cut the Labour share of the vote and gained 68,559 votes – the highest ever Liberal or Liberal Democrat vote at the time and the best result in the whole UK.

After an 18-year absence, he returned to Parliament at the 1992 general election, when he was elected as Liberal Democrat Member for North Cornwall, defeating the Conservative incumbent Gerry Neale, who had defeated John Pardoe in 1979. He was a member of the Liberal Democrats' shadow cabinet until he retired from the House of Commons at the May 2005 general election. Dan Rogerson was selected by the local Liberal Democrats to succeed him, and held the seat by a majority of 3,176.

Tyler was appointed Liberal Democrat Spokesman on Rural Affairs, Agriculture and Transport following his election 1992. In 1994/95 he also piloted a review of Transport policy. He gained the Country Life Parliamentarian of the Year Award for his persistent and effective challenging of Agriculture Ministers during the BSE Beef crisis.

Following the 1997 election he was elected Chief Whip by the newly enlarged Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party. He served on the Modernisation Select Committee, and led Liberal Democrat efforts to make the Commons more effective. As the Foot and Mouth epidemic devastated livestock areas, Party Leader Charles Kennedy appointed Tyler to co-ordinate the response, and work with farming and other organisations, to seek more effective Government action.

Following the 2001 election he was appointed to shadow Robin Cook, Leader of the House of Commons, with particular responsibility for the reform of Parliament. He led for the party on both the modernisation of the Commons and the reform of the Lords to create a democratic and representative Second Chamber. In 2003 he convened a cross-party group (with Ken Clarke, Robin Cook, Tony Wright and Sir George Young) to examine proposals for Lords reform and publish a draft Bill ("Reforming the House of Lords - Breaking the Deadlock")

On 13 May 2005 it was announced that Tyler would be created a life peer, and on 15 June 2005 he was created Baron Tyler, of Linkinhorne, in the County of Cornwall.^[5] He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Cornwall in February 2006.^[6] In March 2014, he was sworn of the Privy Council.^[7]

Tyler chaired the Liberal Democrats' "Better Governance" policy group 2006–07 and piloted its report, "For the people, by the people", through the Liberal Democrat Conference of September 2007. His Constitutional Renewal Bill was introduced in the House of Lords in 2009.

He was co-chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party Committee on Political & Constitutional Reform 2005–21. He has worked with allies in all Parties, and in both Houses, to advance the cause of constitutional reform. He convened a cross-party group from within the Joint Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill to secure majority support for positive recommendations in favour of progress with reform. . With colleagues from other parties, Tyler has contributed extensively to media coverage of this issue. He co-authored a pamphlet "Lords Reform – A Guide for MPs" with other pro-reform parliamentarians, before the Bill received a large majority at second reading in the House of Commons in July 2012.

Following the Committee on Standards in Public Life report on "Political Party Finance" in 2011 he led a cross-party group to prepare a draft Bill to follow up its recommendations ("Funding Democracy" - 2013).

He retired from the House of Lords in October 2021, a week before his 80th birthday, making a widely acclaimed "valedictory speech", fully assessing the constitutional challenges presented by the Johnson Government.^[8]

In 2006 Lord Tyler called on Planning Minister, Yvette Cooper to honour the pledges and position of her predecessor, Keith Hill, to keep the Cornish Saint Piran's Flag flying across the Cornwall When he was MP for North Cornwall, Tyler led a successful campaign, backed by the local media, to gain reassurances from the Planning Minister that rules which prevent the St Piran's flag flying without permission could be ignored by local Councils.^[9]

In 2007 Lord Tyler confirmed his support for a Cornish Assembly when he was interviewed by the BBC regarding proposals for a Constitutional Convention.^[10]

Between 1992 and 2005, he was Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Organophosphates (OPs), and campaigned about their adverse effects on farmers (through sheep dip), pilots and cabin crew (through contaminated cabin air) and Gulf War veterans (through pesticides used to repel insects). He also led a campaign to uncover the truth behind the Lowermoor Water Poisoning incident, and the ensuing cover-up, which occurred shortly before the Conservative Party privatised the water industry.

In 2004, Tyler started a campaign to stop government departments and agencies making citizens access their services via high-rate “0870” phone numbers. He exposed the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency for raking in over £1m a year in “revenue sharing” arrangements with telephone companies, where callers paid over the odds while waiting to book driving tests and sort out tax discs. The campaign culminated in the creation of “03” low-rate numbers, especially for public services.

For a comprehensive analysis of current challenges to Britain's constitutional conventions see Lord Tyler's article for the Financial Times dated 16 January 2021 at ft.com/3qoFr0k.

With his wife Nicky (whose original idea inspired the initiative) and colleague Lord Oates he worked with the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunisation (GAVI) to provide Covid vaccines to lower income countries. The resulting donations from UK residents to the GAVI/COVAX programme totalled more than £450,000 in the spring of 2021.

Following the publication of "Can Parliament Take Back Control?" with Sir Nick Harvey in 2023 he worked with Unlock Democracy to incorporate its recommendations, together with others, in a draft consultative paper ("Democratic Integrity White Paper" - 2024).

Su experiencia trabajando en el Real Instituto de Arquitectos Británicos (1966-1973) y en Shelter (1975-1976) le ha brindado a Tyler un interés especial en la vivienda y la política urbanística. Fue director gerente del grupo de periódicos locales Cornwall Courier (1976-1981), colaborador habitual de diversos medios de comunicación y presentador de la serie Discovery de BBC South West TV en 1978. Fue consultor sénior responsable de asuntos políticos y de interés público en Good Relations (1982-1992) (para, entre otros, la Comisión de Campo , el Año Europeo del Medio Ambiente y la Comisión de Desarrollo Rural).

En 2014, Lord Tyler publicó ¿Quién decide? Combinando un análisis perspicaz con una serie de historias sobre su época como representante de Cornualles, el libro se basa en el trabajo del ex psicólogo jefe del gobierno, Edgar Anstey , y en las ilustraciones de Norman Thelwell para su publicación de 1962 , Comités: Cómo funcionan y cómo hacerlos funcionar . En 2023 publicó, junto con Nick Harvey , ex diputado por North Devon y ministro del gobierno de coalición, "¿Puede el Parlamento recuperar el control? - La dictadura electiva británica tras la era Johnson".

• Sitio web oficial de Paul Tyler
• Perfil de Lord Tyler en el sitio web de los Liberal Demócratas.
• Política de Guardian Unlimited – Pregúntale a Aristóteles: Paul Tyler
• Trabajan para ti – Paul Tyler
• El jefe de disciplina pública – Paul Tyler
• BBC News – Paul Tyler Archivado el 22 de mayo de 2006 en el perfil de Wayback Machine el 10 de febrero de 2005
• Hansard 1803–2005: contribuciones en el Parlamento por Paul Tyler