Robert Taylor

Robert Taylor (30 October 1900 – 1986) was a Scottish trade union leader.

Taylor was born in West Benhar, near Bathgate in Lanarkshire, and was one of twenty-two children. He became a miner in an oil and shale mine and began taking qualifications to become a manager. When he was seventeen, he joined the Independent Labour Party, and became chair of the local branch three years later.

Taylor married in 1921 but, on return from honeymoon, his wages were halved. He decided to re-train as a driver, and became a van driver for the Bathgate Co-operative Society. In 1923, he stood unsuccessfully for Bathgate Council.