 While a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) during World War II, he also served with the Royal Canadian Air Force.Taylor ran twice for the party leadership, coming in second to Strom in the 1968 leadership election to replace Manning and coming in third in the 1973 leadership race.As an opposition MLA in the 1970s, Taylor broke with Social Credit over his support for the Lougheed government's plan to provide gasoline to farmers, a measure the Social Credit party opposed.