Wendy Morton

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Wendy Morton
Official portrait, 2020
Chief Whip of the House of Commons
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
In office
6 September 2022 – 25 October 2022
Prime MinisterLiz Truss
Preceded byChris Heaton-Harris
Succeeded bySimon Hart
Minister of State for Transport[a]
In office
19 December 2021 – 6 September 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byChris Heaton-Harris
Succeeded byKevin Foster
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for European Neighbourhood and the Americas
In office
13 February 2020 – 19 December 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byChris Pincher
Succeeded byChris Heaton-Harris[b]
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice
In office
26 July 2019 – 13 February 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byPaul Maynard
Succeeded byAlex Chalk
Assistant Government Whip
In office
9 January 2018 – 26 July 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Member of Parliament
for Aldridge-Brownhills
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byRichard Shepherd
Majority19,836 (50.4%)
Personal details
Born (1967-11-09) 9 November 1967 (age 56)
Yorkshire, England
Political partyConservative
Alma materOpen University
Websitewendymorton.co.uk

Wendy Morton (born 9 November 1967) is a British politician who served as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from September to October 2022.[1] A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldridge-Brownhills in the West Midlands since 2015.[2][3]

Morton served as an Assistant Government Whip under Theresa May from 2018 to 2019. After Boris Johnson became Prime Minister in July 2019, Morton was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice. In the February 2020 reshuffle, she was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for European Neighbourhood and the Americas. In December 2021, she was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport; she was promoted to Minister of State in February 2022.[4]

Following Johnson's resignation in July 2022, Morton supported Liz Truss’s candidacy in the subsequent Conservative leadership election. Morton was chosen by Truss to serve as Chief Whip of the Conservative Party following her appointment as Prime Minister. However, Morton did not retain the position after Rishi Sunak succeeded Truss as Prime Minister in October 2022.

Early life and career

Morton was born in 1967 in Northallerton, Yorkshire, England.[5] She was educated at The Wensleydale School, a comprehensive school in Leyburn, North Yorkshire.[5] She later gained an MBA with the Open University.[6]

Her career began as an executive officer in HM Diplomatic Service at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office between 1987 and 1989.[5] She then worked in business, sales, and marketing. She set up an electronics company, with her husband, designing and manufacturing electronic goods for the agricultural industry.[7]

Parliamentary career

Early parliamentary career

Morton contested the Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency in 2005, where she placed third. She was selected to fight the Tynemouth constituency in 2010, as it was the top Conservative Party target that cycle.[8] Morton would go on to be defeated by Labour's Alan Campbell. Following her defeat, she contested a North Tyneside Council by-election for the Battle Hill ward in September 2010, where she came in third place.[citation needed]

In October 2014, Morton attempted to be selected as the Conservative candidate for Richmond in North Yorkshire, but she was defeated by Rishi Sunak, the future Prime Minister.[9] After her defeat in Richmond (Yorks), Morton attempted to be selected as the Conservative candidate in several other seats, before she was eventually selected for the Aldridge-Brownhills seat in January 2015. Morton won the seat in May with 52% of the vote. She made her maiden speech on 3 June 2015. During the 57th Parliament, Morton sat on the International Development Select Committee. She was also the Chair of the APPG for Sustainable Development Goals, as well as taking an active interest in several other APPG's.

Her first Private Members bill, NHS (Charitable Trusts, etc.) Bill, received Royal assent on 23 March 2016 and is now law.[10] Her Second Private Member's Bill the Local Audit (Public Access to Documents) bill received Royal Assent on 27 April 2017.[11]

Morton was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum,[12] but subsequently voted in favour.

Morton supported Theresa May in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election.[13] In the summer of 2016, she was appointed a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the newly created Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

57th Parliament

Morton in 2017

At the 2017 general election, Morton stood for reelection and increased her majority to 14,307 and gained 65.4% of the vote.[14] In the government reshuffle following the election Morton was promoted to Parliamentary Private Secretary to Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel at the Department for International Development.[citation needed]

She was made an assistant government whip during the reshuffle on 9 January 2018.[15]

After Boris Johnson won the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election, Morton said that Johnson would bring "real energy, vision and determination" to the role of Prime Minister and said: "Now he must get on and deliver Brexit, and importantly get it done by October 31".[16]

She became a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice in the Johnson ministry on 26 July 2019.[17][18][19][20]

58th Parliament

Morton stood for reelection at the December 2019 election. Morton increased her majority, obtaining 27,850 votes, which was 70.8% of the vote.[21]

In February 2020 as Minister for Victims, Morton pledged an increase in government funding for rape support services.[22][23]

In the 2020 cabinet reshuffle, Morton was promoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for European Neighbourhood and the Americas at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.[24][25] She was reshuffled to the Department for Transport on 19 December 2021, following the move of responsibility for the United Kingdom's relationship with the European Union to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in a straight job-swap with Chris Heaton-Harris.

Morton endorsed Liz Truss during the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[26]

She was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council on 13 September 2022.[27] The same day she was the recipient of alleged abusive texts from MP Sir Gavin Williamson over his exclusion from the guest list of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey.[28] During a further text exchange on 17 October, she wrote, "I need no lecture from you Gavin when I ask a civil question."[28]

On 19 October, during an ongoing political crisis, Morton was reported to have resigned as Chief Whip during a Commons vote and then un-resigned later that evening.[29][30][31][32] She later confirmed that she had resigned, but Truss rejected her resignation and she instead continued as Chief Whip.[33] On 24 October, Morton submitted a formal complaint to Conservative Campaign Headquarters over Williamson's text messages.[34][28]

Morton resigned as Chief Whip shortly after the resignation of Truss as prime minister on 25 October 2022.[35] On 26 October, following Williamson's promotion to Cabinet, Morton escalated her complaint by flagging and supplying the offending texts to the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics Team. Morton asked for anonymity but the text content was leaked to the Sunday Times[36] and also appeared in the Telegraph and Metro on 7 November 2022.[28][37] On 8 November, Sky News reported that Morton has lodged a complaint with the Parliamentary watchdog, Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, regarding the content of the text messages that she had previously reported identical allegations to her party executive as abusive.[38]

Notes

  1. ^ Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State from December 2021 to February 2022
  2. ^ As Minister of State for Europe. James Cleverly assumed responsibility for North America and Vicky Ford assumed responsibility for Latin America and the Caribbean.

References

  1. ^ "Rishi Sunak - live updates: Jacob Rees-Mogg resigns ahead of Sunak appointing new cabinet". Sky News. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Aldridge-Brownhills Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Election 2015 Aldridge-Brownhills". Sky News. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  4. ^ "Ministerial appointments: 19 December 2021". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Morton, Wendy, (born 1967), MP (C) Aldridge-Brownhills, since 2015; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (formerly Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development), since 2020". Who's Who 2021. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Wendy Morton MP". West Midlands. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  7. ^ "D.M. Electronics Overview". Companies House. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Wendy Morton gets a boost in Tynemouth as her Lib Dem opponent goes on holiday". ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  9. ^ Roy, Amit (20 October 2014). "Murthy son-in-law gets Hague's seat". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  10. ^ "NHS (Charitable Trusts Etc) Bill 2015–16". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Local Audit (Public Access to Documents) Act 2017 — UK Parliament". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  12. ^ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  13. ^ "Why Theresa May will be a great Prime Minister | Wendy Morton". Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  14. ^ "Aldridge-Brownhills parliamentary constituency – Election 2017". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  15. ^ Walker, Peter (9 January 2018). "Theresa May's junior ministerial reshuffle: who's in and who's out". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 16 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  16. ^ Madeley, Peter. "Get on with Brexit, Boris: Tory MPs' plea to Johnson as new Prime Minister". Express & Star. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  17. ^ MP, Wendy Morton (26 July 2019). "Honoured to have been appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State to @MoJGovUK by our new PM @BorisJohnson. I am looking forward to working with @RobertBuckland and the team". @morton_wendy. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  18. ^ "Wendy Morton MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Former government whip is new youth justice minister". CYP Now. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  20. ^ Wallace, Mark (26 July 2019). "Johnson's reshuffle. Live blog. Day Three: Businessman appointed Party co-chair alongside Cleverly". Conservative Home. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  21. ^ "Aldridge-Brownhills parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  22. ^ "Wendy Morton MP: Why we're upping funding for rape support services". Express & Star. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  23. ^ "Boost for York rape support centre". York Press. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  24. ^ "Ministerial appointments: February 2020". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  25. ^ Kay, Liam. "Entire DfID junior ministerial team merged with Foreign Office". thirdsector.co.uk. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  26. ^ Madeley, Peter (12 July 2022). "Tory leadership race: Early favourite among region's MPs as nominations deadline looms". Express & Star. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  27. ^ "Orders for 13 September 2022" (PDF). Privy Council Office. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  28. ^ a b c d Turner, Camilla (7 November 2022). "Gavin Williamson 'has not apologised' for expletive-laden texts to Wendy Morton". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  29. ^ "Chief whip remains in post after reportedly resigning earlier". ITV News. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  30. ^ "Liz Truss resigns latest updates: Tories 'facing extinction'; Boris Johnson ally gives cryptic answer; Labour now on 'election footing'". Sky News. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  31. ^ Turner, Camilla; Gutteridge, Nick (19 October 2022). "Chief Whip Wendy Morton quits – then returns – amid reports MPs 'manhandled'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  32. ^ Smyth, Chris; Zeffman, Henry. "'Shouting and shoving' MPs are stuck in a bad dream". The Times. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  33. ^ "Wendy Morton: I'll never forget chaotic vote that sank Liz Truss". BBC News. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  34. ^ Chantler-Hicks, Matt Watts, William Mata, Lydia (6 November 2022). "Gavin Williamson texts 'not acceptable or right', says Rishi Sunak". Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 November 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ "UK government's chief whip Wendy Morton resigns - statement". Reuters. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  36. ^ "Sunak defies calls to sack Gavin Williamson despite 'not acceptable' messages". Stowmarket Mercury. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  37. ^ Media, P. A. (5 November 2022). "Gavin Williamson faces inquiry over 'abusive' messages to Wendy Morton". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  38. ^ "Ex-chief whip Wendy Morton refers abusive messages allegation against Williamson for independent investigation". Sky News. Retrieved 8 November 2022.

Further reading

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Aldridge-Brownhills

2015–present
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Chief Whip of the House of Commons
2022
Succeeded by
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury
2022
Party political offices
Preceded by Conservative Chief Whip of the House of Commons
2022
Succeeded by
Simon Hart