Estelle Morris

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

name = The Baroness Morris
honorific-suffix = PC

---

office = Secretary of State for Education and Skills
term_start = 8 June 2001
term_end = 24 October 2002
primeminister= Tony Blair
predecessor = David Blunkett
successor = Charles Clarke
constituency_MP2 = Birmingham Yardley
parliament2 =
term_start2 = 9 April 1992
term_end2 = 11 April 2005
majority2 =
predecessor2 = David Bevan
successor2 = John Hemming
birth_date = Birth date and age|1952|06|07|df=yes
birth_place = Manchester, United Kingdom
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession = Teacher
religion =


website =
footnotes =

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.

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 [http://www.whalleyrange.manchester.sch.uk Whalley Range High School] on "Wilbraham Road" in Whalley Range where she [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/145788.stm 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 [http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wie/ 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.

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. [(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. [ [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/lords/story/0,9061,1483494,00.html Labour becomes biggest party in Lords | Politics | guardian.co.uk ] ]

Awards

Baroness Morris of Yardley was awarded an [http://www.mmu.ac.uk/graduation/honorands Honorary Degree] of Doctor of Education by Manchester Metropolitan University on 18 July 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 [http://www.lmu.ac.uk:81/graduation04/honorary/july/4em.htm Honorary Doctorate of Arts] from Leeds Metropolitan University in 2004. She [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/3649762.stm received] an Honorary Doctor of Education from the University of Wolverhampton on 11 September 2004. She [http://www.bradford.ac.uk/admin/pr/pressreleases/2005/hon-grads-july-2005.php received] an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Bradford on 21 July 2005.

References

External links

* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-3736,00.html Guardian Politics Ask Aristotle – Estelle Morris]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/?pid=10445 TheyWorkForYou.com – Estelle Morris MP]
* [http://www.ncb.org.uk/Page.asp?originx4357wi_54806926048992f22e1130169924 NCB's President]
* [http://www.mmu.ac.uk/graduation/honorands Manchester Metropolitan University's Honorands]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/vote2001/hi/english/newsid_1376000/1376274.stm BBC Profile]