Estelle Morris

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Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, PC (born 17 June 1952) is a British Labour politician and member of the House of Lords. She was briefly a member of the Cabinet.

Estelle Morris was born to a strongly political family. Her uncle, Alf Morris, was Labour MP for Manchester Wythenshawe (1964-1997) and her father, Charles Morris, was Labour MP for Manchester Openshaw (1963-1983). She is a graduate of the University of Warwick. She was a teacher at the inner-city Sidney Stringer School in Coventry and was a member of Warwick District Council from 1979 to 1991.

Morris was elected to Parliament in 1992 for Birmingham Yardley, gaining the seat from the Conservatives. She became a minister in the Department for Education and Employment in 1997 and was promoted to Secretary of State for Education and Skills in 2001.

She suddenly resigned her post in October 2002, explaining that she did not feel 'up to the job'. She had made a commitment to the then Conservative Shadow Education Secretary, David Willetts to resign if the literacy and numeracy targets were not met (Hansard – 2 Mar 1999 : Column 948). In interviews following her resignation she stated that she had felt happier and more effective as a junior Education minister.

She rejoined the Government in 2003 as Minister for the Arts in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and caused further comment when she admitted that she did not know much about contemporary art. She stepped down from the government and as a Member of Parliament at the 2005 general election.

In April 2005 she was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sunderland. In May 2005, she was appointed chair of the Children’s Workforce Development Council. In September 2005, it was announced that she would succeed Lady Kennedy of The Shaws as President of the National Children's Bureau.

On 13 May 2005 it was announced that she would be created a life peer, and the title was gazetted as Baroness Morris of Yardley, of Yardley in the County of West Midlands, on 15 June 2005.[1]

[edit] External links

• Guardian Politics Ask Aristotle – Estelle Morris
• TheyWorkForYou.com – Estelle Morris MP
• NCB's President

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by: David Bevan	Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley 1992–2005	Succeeded by: John Hemming
Political offices
Preceded by: Sec. State. Education and Employment David Blunkett	Secretary of State for Education and Skills 2001–2002	Succeeded by: Charles Clarke
Preceded by: Baroness Blackstone	Minister of State for the Arts 2003–2005	Succeeded by: David Lammy