Wendy Morton
Wendy Morton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice | |
| Assumed office 26 July 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Paul Maynard |
| Member of Parliament for Aldridge-Brownhills | |
| Assumed office 8 May 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Shepherd |
| Majority | 19,836 (50.4%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 November 1967 North Yorkshire, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Open University |
| Website | https://wendymorton.co.uk/ |
Wendy Morton (born 9 November 1967) is a British Conservative Party who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldridge-Brownhills since 2015.[1][2] A former Assistant Government Whip, she currently serves as Under-Secretary of State for Justice.
Early life and career
Morton was born in North Yorkshire where she attended local primary and secondary schools. She later gained an MBA with the Open University.
Her career began as an executive officer in HM Diplomatic Service at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office before working in the business sector, in sales and marketing. She then set up an electronics company, with her husband, designing and manufacturing electronic goods for the agricultural industry.
Parliamentary career
Morton contested Newcastle upon Tyne Central constituency in 2005 coming in third place. Morton was selected to fight Tynemouth constituency in the 2010 General Election, Tynemouth was the top Conservative Party target in 2010.[3] Morton would go on to be defeated by Labour's Alan Campbell. Following Morton's defeat, in September 2010 she contested a North Tyneside Council by-election for Battle Hill ward where she came in third place.
Morton was selected for the seat of Aldridge-Brownhills in January 2015, and won the seat in May with 52% share of the vote. She made her maiden speech on 3 June 2015. During the 2017 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.[4] Her Second Private Member's Bill the Local Audit (Public Access to Documents) bill received Royal Assent on 27 April 2017.[5]
Morton was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.[6]
In the summer of 2016, she was appointed a Parliamentary Private Secretary at the newly created Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
At the 2017 General Election, Morton increased her majority to 14,307 and gained 65.4% of the vote.[7] In the government reshuffle following the election Morton was promoted to Parliament Private Secretary to Priti Patel at the Department for International Development.[8]
At the 2019 election she increased her majority yet again, obtaining 27,850 votes, which was 70.8% of the vote. https://www.bbc.com/news/politics/constituencies/E14000531
She was made an assistant government whip during the reshuffle on 9 January 2018.[9]
She was made a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice in the Johnson ministry on 26 July 2019.[10]
References
- ^ "Aldridge-Brownhills Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ^ "Election 2015 Aldridge-Brownhills". Sky News. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "NHS (Charitable Trusts Etc) Bill 2015-16". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
- ^ "Local Audit (Public Access to Documents) Act 2017 — UK Parliament". services.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Aldridge-Brownhills parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". BBC News. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ "New PPS List in Full". Guido Fawkes. 28 June 2017. Archived from the original on 7 August 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- ^ correspondent, Peter Walker Political (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.
{{cite news}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ 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.
Further reading
- "Tories win Richmondshire". The Guardian. 26 October 2001.
- "Result: Newcastle upon Tyne Central". Election 2005. BBC News. 5 May 2005.
- "Tynemouth". Election 2010. BBC News.
- "Women tipped to fill safe Tory seats". The Northern Echo. 15 July 2014.
- "Tory candidate chosen to replace veteran MP in election battle". Express & Star. 24 January 2015.