Matthew Taylor became Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts in November 2006.  Prior to this appointment, he was Chief Adviser on Political Strategy to the Prime Minister.

Matthew was appointed to the Labour Party in 1994 to establish Labour’s rebuttal operation. His activities before the Labour Party included being a county councillor, a parliamentary candidate, a university research fellow and the director of a unit monitoring policy in the health service. Until December 1998, Matthew was Assistant General Secretary for the Labour Party. During the 1997 General Election he was Labour’s Director of Policy and a member of the Party’s central election strategy team. He was the Director of Institute for Public Policy Research between 1999 and 2003, Britain’s leading centre left think tank. During that time, the Institute tripled in size to become the largest independent public policy think tank in Europe.  He has written numerous articles, frequently appears on television, and co-authored a book What are children for? with his father, Laurie Taylor.