Stephen Morgan (British politician)

Stephen James Morgan (born 17 January 1981)[3] is a British Labour Party politician[4] who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth South since the 2017 general election.[5]

Stephen Morgan

MP
Morgan in 2019
Shadow Minister for the Armed Forces
Assumed office
9 April 2020
LeaderSir Keir Starmer
Preceded byWayne David
Shadow Minister for Defence Procurement
In office
16 January 2020 – 9 April 2020
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byWayne David
Succeeded byKhalid Mahmood
Shadow Minister for Communities
In office
17 July 2019 – 9 April 2020
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byYvonne Fovargue
Succeeded byNaz Shah
Member of Parliament
for Portsmouth South
Assumed office
8 June 2017[1]
Preceded byFlick Drummond
Majority5,363 (11.3%)
Personal details
Born
Stephen James Morgan[2]

(1981-01-17) 17 January 1981
Fratton, Portsmouth, England
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Bristol
Goldsmiths, University of London
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life

Morgan is originally from Fratton, a district of Portsmouth; where he attended local state schools including the comprehensive Priory School and then Portsmouth College.[6] He was the first in his family to go to university studying politics and sociology at the University of Bristol before gaining a master's degree in politics at Goldsmiths in London.[7]

He was active in his community at a young age, inspired by his parents’ involvement in the area. Morgan's grandfather, from Southsea, left Portsmouth aged 17 to take part in the D-day landings where he served in the Royal Army Service Corps. After WW2, Morgan's grandfather continued to live in Portsmouth and helped found the local branch of Normandy Veterans Association.[8] Morgan has publicly stated that his grandfather's actions are one of the reasons behind his work on veterans’ rights and adequate care for older members of the community.

Morgan has been chair of Portsmouth Cultural Consortium, a resident-led group committed to improving the city through cultural regeneration, vice chair of Age UK Portsmouth and a governor at Arundel Court Junior School and his former secondary, Priory School.[9]

Before going into politics, Morgan's career was in local government working at Portsmouth City Council, later becoming Head of Community Engagement for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.[10] From 2015 until the snap general election of 2017, he was CEO of Basingstoke Voluntary Action.[11][12] This role allowed him to run for public office for the first time and in May 2016 he became the councillor for Charles Dickens, a central ward in Portsmouth City Council. Later that year, he became the Leader of the Portsmouth Labour Group.[13]

Parliamentary career

On 8 June 2017, a snap general election called by Prime Minister Theresa May was held, in which he defeated the incumbent Conservative MP Flick Drummond for Portsmouth South by a majority of 1,554 and a swing of 9.4% from Conservative to Labour[14] increasing the share of the vote by 21.5%, one of the largest increases in the country.[15] This makes him the first member of his party to represent the seat since its creation in 1918. In his victory speech Morgan said, "Portsmouth had voted for hope".[16] He later said "It has been a dream of mine to be an MP ever since I joined the party at the age of 16."[7] In the general election of December 2019, Morgan more than trebled his majority again recording one of the highest increase in Labour share of the vote in the country at 7.6%.[17]

In Parliament, Morgan has served as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Andrew Gwynne, the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, and on the Public Accounts Committee. From July 2019 until April 2020, he served in the Shadow Communities and Local Government team as a Shadow Minister. The brief included policy areas such as adult social care, children's services, faith and community cohesion, welfare reform and debt services to community pubs.

Morgan says his priorities are tackling crime, standing up for schools, investment in the NHS, being a strong voice on defence and addressing climate change.[18] Morgan frequently speaks out on veterans’ issues citing Portsmouth's naval history and his own grandfather's military service as his motivation.[19] On 3 April 2019 he hosted a Westminster Hall debate calling on the government to take further action on reducing veteran suicide. During the debate Morgan called on the Government to begin recording veterans’ suicide, claiming this will improve mental health support services for the armed forces and veterans.[20]

From January 2020 until April 2020 Morgan was the Shadow Minister for Defence Procurement. The brief included the delivery of the equipment and support, nuclear enterprise, exports, cyber, innovation, science and technology, estates and environment and sustainability.[21] In April 2020, the new leader of the Labour Party Keir Starmer appointed him as Shadow Minister for the Armed Forces.[22] In October 2020, Morgan was elected co-chair of Labour Friends of the Forces.[23]

Morgan has often criticised spending cuts to schools and colleges.[24] He regularly visits schools in Portsmouth, and set up the Inspiring Fratton awards to inspire people from his home district to “aim high, work hard, and achieve their dreams”.[25]

In 2016 Morgan campaigned for the remain side in the EU referendum. The constituency narrowly voted to leave, with a split of 51.76% leave and 48.24% remain,[26] reflecting the national result. Morgan was an early supporter of the People's Vote campaign[27] arguing that giving the public another chance to vote on Brexit would end what many considered the national constitutional crisis at the time. He vowed to lead the remain campaign in Portsmouth if this referendum had took place.[28]

He is an officer on the Key Cities APPG, Cycling APPG, and LGBT Labour,[29] and a member of the Fabian Society.

Morgan has vowed to not report constituents to the Home Office for immigration enforcement.[30]

In August 2020 Morgan was nominated for Patchwork Foundation's Member of Parliament of the Year award.[31]

Personal life

Morgan lives in Southsea.[7]

References
  1. https://members.parliament.uk/member/4653/contact
  2. "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11784.
  3. "Stephen Morgan MP". myparliament.info. MyParliament. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  4. "Portsmouth Labour Party". Portsmouth Labour Party. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  5. "Stephen Morgan MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  6. "Morgan, Stephen". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. 2018 (February 2018 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 14 February 2018. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  7. "Labour's new Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan: 'I will champion the people of this city'". Portsmouth News. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  8. PoliticsHome.com (5 June 2019). "Stephen Morgan: D-Day 75 is a chance to celebrate what we can achieve when we unite behind a cause". PoliticsHome.com. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  9. "Stephen Morgan MP". LinkedIn. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  10. "About Stephen Morgan". Stephen Morgan. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  11. "Basingstoke Voluntary Action". Companies House. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  12. "Stephen Morgan Starts as New Chief Executive at BVA" (PDF). Hampshire CVS Network. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  13. "City Council Elections 2016 - Thursday, 5th May, 2016". Portsmouth City Council. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  14. "Labour gain Portsmouth South seat from Conservatives". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  15. "Portsmouth South parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  16. "New Labour MP for Portsmouth South says city 'voted for hope'". Portsmouth News. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  17. "Labour increases majority in Portsmouth South". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  18. "Home". Stephen Morgan. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  19. PoliticsHome.com (1 April 2019). "Stephen Morgan: We must stop turning a blind eye to veteran suicide". PoliticsHome.com. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  20. "Portsmouth MP demands Britain does more for its veteran community gripped by suicide epidemic". www.portsmouth.co.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  21. "Portsmouth MP Stephen Morgan promoted to Labour's shadow defence minister". www.portsmouth.co.uk. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  22. "Keir Starmer appoints Labour frontbench". The Labour Party. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  23. "https://twitter.com/sarah_c_church/status/1319354918688477190". Twitter. Retrieved 4 November 2020. External link in |title= (help)
  24. "'Portsmouth against school cuts' needs your help". Portsmouth Labour Party. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  25. "PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  26. "Election 2017 dashboard". Democratic Dashboard. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  27. "Mixed reaction as Portsmouth MP supports 'all options' Brexit vote". www.portsmouth.co.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  28. "Portsmouth MP vows to lead city's campaign for public vote on final Brexit deal". www.portsmouth.co.uk. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  29. "Patrons - LGBT+ Labour". Lgbtlabour.org.uk. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  30. "MPs not border guards - pledge signatories | Global Justice Now". Globaljustice.org.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  31. Munn, Jonah. "Stephen Morgan 'humbled' to be nominated for national MP of the Year". Stephen Morgan. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Flick Drummond		 Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South
2017–present		 Incumbent
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