WORLD : Black Issue Tests Major’s Vision
Prime Minister John Major’s vision of a “society of opportunity” faces an immediate test from some Conservative Party members who are rebelling against a black lawyer selected as their candidate for Parliament.
John Taylor, who hopes to be the first black Conservative in the House of Commons, was selected last weekend by the Tory organization in Cheltenham, near Gloucester in western England. Some Conservatives complained they were given no choice but Taylor, and one inflamed the controversy when he was quoted in a national newspaper as calling the candidate “a bloody nigger.”
William Galbraith, a Conservative Party member in Cheltenham, confirmed today that he had made the remark in a private conversation but had not expected to be quoted.
Major, in his first major address to the Conservative Party organization today, said he supports Taylor.
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