Elliot Morley
Encyclopedia
Elliot Anthony Morley is a former Labour Party
politician, who was the Member of Parliament
for Glanford and Scunthorpe
from 1987 to 1997 and then Scunthorpe
from 1997 to 2010. In 2009, he was accused by The Daily Telegraph
of continuing to claim parliamentary expenses for a mortgage that had already been repaid. Morley was duly prosecuted and on 7 April 2011 pleaded guilty in the Crown Court at Southwark to two counts of false accounting, involving over £30,000. On 20 May 2011, he was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment.. He was released from prison on 20 September 2011 having served one-quarter of his sentence.
in south Liverpool
and received a BEd
from Hull College of Education. He was head of Special Needs
at Greatfield High School in Hull.
representing Drypool
Ward from 1979 to 1986.
He served as Fisheries Minister from 1997 to 2003. He was Minister for Environment and Agri-Environment in DEFRA but left government in the May 2006 reshuffle. During his time in government Morley pushed strongly for a series of environmental causes. In 2004, he sought to strengthen the United Kingdom's efforts to purchase legally harvested lumber and aided the launch of a programme to manage flooding and coastal erosion called 'WaveNet'. In 2005, Morley assisted in the establishment of a Governmental Decontamination Service, to provide decontamination and cleansing assistance after chemical, radiological, biological, or nuclear incidents and major accidental releases of harmful materials.
On 19 December 2006, he was appointed to the Privy Council
. This was revoked on 14 June 2011. He was Chairman of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee
, leaving this post when his expenses claims came under investigation). In 2007 Morley voted to support the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill, which would have given Parliament a blanket exemption from the Freedom of Information Act and thereby prevent the release of any information on expenses claims by Members of Parliament. However the Bill was defeated.
alleged on 14 May 2009 that Morley claimed £
800 a month in respect of a property in Winterton
, near Scunthorpe
, for 18 months after the mortgage ended, and received an overpayment of £16,800 in total.
The Telegraph also alleged Morley rented out a London
flat designated as his main residence to another Labour MP, Ian Cawsey
, a close friend and former special adviser. Cawsey named the property as his second home, allowing him to claim £1,000 a month to cover the rent which he was charged by Mr Morley. In November 2007, the newspaper claims Morley 'flipped' his designated second home from his Scunthorpe property to his London flat, and for four months the two men claimed expenses on the same property.
Morley told BBC News
that he had repaid the money two weeks prior to the Telegraph story breaking upon realising he had mistakenly continued claiming for his mortgage payments after the mortgage had been paid off in 2006. On 14 May 2009 he was suspended from holding office in the Parliamentary Labour Party because of this scandal. Morley referred himself to John Lyon
, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
, in an effort to clear his name. It was reported that this inquiry was put on hold pending a police investigation. On 29 May 2009 he announced that he would not stand for re-election, but refused to resign immediately.
On 27 May 2010 Morley, David Chaytor
, Jim Devine
, and Lord Hanningfield (Paul White) appeared at Southwark Crown Court
for a preliminary hearing. They faced charges of false accounting under the Theft Act.
Morley eventually pleaded guilty in the Crown Court at Southwark on 7 April 2011 before Mr Justice Saunders, who had presided over the other prosecutions in the Parliamentary expenses scandal. On 20 May 2011, Morley was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment on two counts of false accounting.. He served four months in prison - a quarter of the sentence - and was then released under the home detention curfew scheme.
On 8 June 2011, he was expelled from the Privy Council, the first expulsion since Edgar Speyer
in 1921.
Morley was previously a Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers
for services to flood and coastal defence. He was expelled from the Institution of Civil Engineers on 4 July 2011, when the Institution's Professional Conduct Panel ruled that due to his breaching of "Rule 1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which require all members to uphold the dignity, standing and reputation of the Institution" by "committing offences of False Accounting in connection with his responsibilities as a Member of Parliament" he should be expelled from the Institution.
and Wildlife and Countryside Link
. He is Honorary President of North Lincolnshire Royal Society for the Protection of Animals. He has an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Lincoln
for services to nature conservation. He is a former President of Hull Teachers Association and a former Council member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
.
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician, who was the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Glanford and Scunthorpe
Glanford and Scunthorpe (UK Parliament constituency)
Glanford and Scunthorpe was a parliamentary constituency centred on the borough of Glanford and the town of Scunthorpe in Humberside. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-History:...
from 1987 to 1997 and then Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe (UK Parliament constituency)
Scunthorpe is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Centred on the town of Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
from 1997 to 2010. In 2009, he was accused by The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
of continuing to claim parliamentary expenses for a mortgage that had already been repaid. Morley was duly prosecuted and on 7 April 2011 pleaded guilty in the Crown Court at Southwark to two counts of false accounting, involving over £30,000. On 20 May 2011, he was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment.. He was released from prison on 20 September 2011 having served one-quarter of his sentence.
Early life
He attended St Margaret's C of E High School on Aigburth Road in AigburthAigburth
Aigburth is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Dingle, Mossley Hill, and Garston.-History:...
in south Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and received a BEd
Bachelor of Education
A Bachelor of Education is an undergraduate academic degree which qualifies the graduate as a teacher in schools.-North America:...
from Hull College of Education. He was head of Special Needs
Special needs
In the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...
at Greatfield High School in Hull.
Political career
Before entering Parliament, Morley was a member of Hull City CouncilHull City Council
Hull City Council is the governing body for the unitary authority and city of Kingston upon Hull. It was created in 1972 as the successor to the Corporation of Hull, which was also known as Hull Corporation....
representing Drypool
Drypool
Drypool is an area within the city of Kingston upon Hull, EnglandHistorically Drypool was a village, manor and later parish on the east bank River Hull at the confluence of the Humber Estuary and River Hull, it is now part of the greater urban area of Kingston upon Hull, and gives its name to a...
Ward from 1979 to 1986.
He served as Fisheries Minister from 1997 to 2003. He was Minister for Environment and Agri-Environment in DEFRA but left government in the May 2006 reshuffle. During his time in government Morley pushed strongly for a series of environmental causes. In 2004, he sought to strengthen the United Kingdom's efforts to purchase legally harvested lumber and aided the launch of a programme to manage flooding and coastal erosion called 'WaveNet'. In 2005, Morley assisted in the establishment of a Governmental Decontamination Service, to provide decontamination and cleansing assistance after chemical, radiological, biological, or nuclear incidents and major accidental releases of harmful materials.
On 19 December 2006, he was appointed to the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
. This was revoked on 14 June 2011. He was Chairman of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee
Energy and Climate Change Select Committee
The Energy and Climate Change Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that came into existence on 1 January 2009.-Formation:...
, leaving this post when his expenses claims came under investigation). In 2007 Morley voted to support the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill, which would have given Parliament a blanket exemption from the Freedom of Information Act and thereby prevent the release of any information on expenses claims by Members of Parliament. However the Bill was defeated.
Expenses claims
As part of its disclosure of expenses of British Members of Parliament, The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
alleged on 14 May 2009 that Morley claimed £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
800 a month in respect of a property in Winterton
Winterton, Lincolnshire
Winterton is a small town in North Lincolnshire, England, north-east of Scunthorpe. Taking into account the five years since the last UK census, the population currently stands at approximately 4,700 people. Major north-south/east-west streets of Winterton are Market Street and Northlands Road...
, near Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe
Scunthorpe is a town within North Lincolnshire, England. It is the administrative centre of the North Lincolnshire unitary authority, and had an estimated total resident population of 72,514 in 2010. A predominantly industrial town, Scunthorpe, the United Kingdom's largest steel processing centre,...
, for 18 months after the mortgage ended, and received an overpayment of £16,800 in total.
The Telegraph also alleged Morley rented out a London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
flat designated as his main residence to another Labour MP, Ian Cawsey
Ian Cawsey
Ian Arthur Cawsey is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Brigg and Goole from 1997 until his defeat at the 2010 general election.-Early life:...
, a close friend and former special adviser. Cawsey named the property as his second home, allowing him to claim £1,000 a month to cover the rent which he was charged by Mr Morley. In November 2007, the newspaper claims Morley 'flipped' his designated second home from his Scunthorpe property to his London flat, and for four months the two men claimed expenses on the same property.
Morley told BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
that he had repaid the money two weeks prior to the Telegraph story breaking upon realising he had mistakenly continued claiming for his mortgage payments after the mortgage had been paid off in 2006. On 14 May 2009 he was suspended from holding office in the Parliamentary Labour Party because of this scandal. Morley referred himself to John Lyon
John Lyon (commissioner)
John Lyon, CB, is the current British Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. He commenced his appointment, which was for a period of five years, on 1 January 2008....
, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an officer of the British House of Commons.He or she is appointed by a Resolution of the House of Commons and works a four-day week.- Tasks :...
, in an effort to clear his name. It was reported that this inquiry was put on hold pending a police investigation. On 29 May 2009 he announced that he would not stand for re-election, but refused to resign immediately.
Prosecution
On 5 February 2010, it was reported that Morley would face criminal charges over his expenses, and the Labour whip was subsequently suspended.On 27 May 2010 Morley, David Chaytor
David Chaytor
David Michael Chaytor is a former British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Bury North from 1997 to 2010. He was the first member of Parliament to be sentenced following the United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal of 2009.On 2 June 2009, he announced that he...
, Jim Devine
Jim Devine
James "Jim" Devine is a former British Member of Parliament, having been the Labour Party member for Livingston from 2005 until 2010 and Chairman of the Scottish Labour Party between 1994-95....
, and Lord Hanningfield (Paul White) appeared at Southwark Crown Court
Southwark Crown Court
Southwark Crown Court is one of three Crown Court buildings in London SE1, along with Inner London Crown Court and Blackfriars Crown Court.Opened in 1983, the brick building is located close to the River Thames at the south of London Bridge, next to Hay's Galleria...
for a preliminary hearing. They faced charges of false accounting under the Theft Act.
Morley eventually pleaded guilty in the Crown Court at Southwark on 7 April 2011 before Mr Justice Saunders, who had presided over the other prosecutions in the Parliamentary expenses scandal. On 20 May 2011, Morley was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment on two counts of false accounting.. He served four months in prison - a quarter of the sentence - and was then released under the home detention curfew scheme.
On 8 June 2011, he was expelled from the Privy Council, the first expulsion since Edgar Speyer
Edgar Speyer
Sir Edgar Speyer, 1st Baronet was an American-born financier and philanthropist. He became a British subject in 1892 and was chairman of Speyer Brothers, the British branch of his family's international finance house, and a partner in the German and American branches...
in 1921.
Morley was previously a Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
for services to flood and coastal defence. He was expelled from the Institution of Civil Engineers on 4 July 2011, when the Institution's Professional Conduct Panel ruled that due to his breaching of "Rule 1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which require all members to uphold the dignity, standing and reputation of the Institution" by "committing offences of False Accounting in connection with his responsibilities as a Member of Parliament" he should be expelled from the Institution.
Personal life
Morley married Patricia Hunt in 1975 in Hull. They have two children: a son (born August 1984) and a daughter (born 1980). He is Honorary Vice President of the Association of Drainage AuthoritiesAssociation of Drainage Authorities
The Association of Drainage Authorities is a membership body for organisations involved in water level management within the United Kingdom.-Membership:The Association's members are* Internal drainage boards...
and Wildlife and Countryside Link
Wildlife and Countryside Link
Wildlife and Countryside Link brings together voluntary organisations in the UK to protect and enhance wildlife, landscape and the marine environment and to further the quiet enjoyment and appreciation of the countryside...
. He is Honorary President of North Lincolnshire Royal Society for the Protection of Animals. He has an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Lincoln
University of Lincoln
The University of Lincoln is an English university founded in 1992, with origins tracing back to the foundation and association with the Hull School of Art 1861....
for services to nature conservation. He is a former President of Hull Teachers Association and a former Council member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Bird Notes and News was first published in April 1903.The title changed to 'Bird Notes' in 1947. In the 1950s, there were four copies per year . Each volume covered two years, spread over three calendar years...
.
External links
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Elliot Morley MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Elliot Morley MP
- Voting Record at The Public Whip
- BBC Politics
- Channel Lincolnshire in 2008
- Elliot Morley Twitter Profile
- http://www.newstatesman.com/200306300016Interview with John Kampfner in The New StatesmanNew StatesmanNew Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
Magazine - 30 June 2003]