Former Dewsbury MP visits Â£2.5m revamped courts which are now closed...

PICTURE BY KEITH LAWSON
FOR E.P. NEWS.
Dewsbury Town Hall. Dewsbury constituency election.
Ann Taylor with chairman of Dewsbury Labour Party Paul Ellis after her general election victory — PICTURE BY KEITH LAWSON FOR E.P. NEWS. Dewsbury Town Hall. Dewsbury constituency election. Ann Taylor with chairman of Dewsbury Labour Party Paul Ellis after her general election victory

Former Dewsbury Labour MP Ann Taylor was behind bars... albeit of her own accord, as she agreed to tour newly renovated cells at Dewsbury Courthouse. The MP was given a guided tour of the £2.5m revamp. The courts were closed in March 2012, along with 141 other courts across the country, as part of Government-imposed cost-cutting measures.

From October 2008 to May 2010, Mrs Taylor was Minister for International Defence and Security, based at both the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She was also the first woman to serve as Leader of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and the first woman to serve as Lord President of the Privy Council (both in the First Blair Ministry). In 2005, she became Baroness Taylor of Bolton.