Estelle Morris

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

Contents

[edit] Early life

Estelle Morris was born to a political family. Her uncle, Alf Morris, was Labour MP for Manchester Wythenshawe (1964-97) and her father, Charles Morris, was Labour MP for Manchester Openshaw (1963-83). She went to Whalley Range High School on Wilbraham Road in Whalley Range where she failed her English and French A-levels. She is a graduate of the Coventry College of Education (merged with the University of Warwick in 1979 to become the Warwick Institute of Education), where she gained a BEd in 1974. She was a teacher at the inner-city Sidney Stringer School on Cox Street in Coventry from 1974-92, becoming Head of Sixth Form Studies, and was a member of Warwick District Council from 1979 to 1991.

[edit] Parliamentary career

Morris was elected to Parliament in 1992 for Birmingham Yardley, gaining the seat from the Conservatives with only a wafer-thin majority of 162. 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 [1]. 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.[2]

[edit] Awards

Baroness Morris of Yardley was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Education by Manchester Metropolitan University on July 18, 2007 in recognition of her contribution to education throughout a lifelong career as a dedicated teacher and politician with an education portfolio that has spanned ten years. She gained an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Leeds Metropolitan University in 2004. She received an Honorary Doctor of Education from the University of Wolverhampton on September 11 2004. She received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Bradford on July 21 2005.

[edit] References

  1. ^ (Hansard – 2 Mar 1999 : Column 948)
  2. ^ Labour becomes biggest party in Lords | Politics | guardian.co.uk

[edit] External links

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
David Blunkett
Secretary of State for Education and Employment		 Secretary of State for Education and Skills
2001–2002		 Succeeded by
Charles Clarke
Preceded by
Baroness Blackstone		 Minister for the Arts
2003–2005		 Succeeded by
David Lammy
Minister for Culture
Languages