Charles Richard Morris (14 December 1926 – 8 January 2012) was a British politician who served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Manchester Openshaw from 1963 to 1983. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

from 1974 to 1979 and a

Government Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology o ...

from 1966 to 1970.

Early life and career

Charles Richard Morris was born in

Ancoats, Manchester Ancoats is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is located next to the Northern Quarter, the northern part of Manchester city centre. Historically in Lancashire, Ancoats became a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and has ...

on 14 December 1926 to George Morris and Jessie Murphy. His father, who was significantly disabled as result of his

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

injuries, worked as a sign writer; He died at 44, when Charles was nine years-old. Morris lived in poverty alongside seven other siblings, all of whom faced a

workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse'' ...

when their home was marked for

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

in 1935. Too poor to secure a

council house A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...

, a local

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

helped them move to a nearby

housing project Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authorities, government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the d ...

Newton Heath Newton Heath is an area of Manchester, England, north-east of Manchester city centre and with a population of 9,883. Historically part of Lancashire, Newton was formerly a farming area, but adopted the factory system following the Industrial Re ...

. Morris was educated at Brookdale Park School, Manchester. He served with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

in the

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from 1945 to 1948 before joining the Post Office. Morris was member of the National Executive Council of the

Union of Post Office Workers The Union of Communication Workers (UCW) was a trade union in the United Kingdom for workers in the post office and telecommunications industries. History The union was founded in 1919 as the Union of Post Office Workers (UPW) by the merger ...

from 1959 to 1963. He joined the Labour Party in 1943 and served on

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...

from 1954 to 1964.

Parliamentary career

Morris first stood for Parliament at the 1959 general election in Cheadle without success. He was elected to represent Manchester Openshaw in Parliament at a by-election in December 1963, caused following the death of incumbent MP William Williams. He was appointed

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

(PPS) to

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

, then

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official respons ...

, after Labour's victory at the 1964 general election. He became an Assistant Whip in 1966 and was promoted to Vice-Chamberlain of the Household the following year. Morris served as Deputy

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

and

Treasurer of the Household The Treasurer of the Household is a member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The position is usually held by one of the government deputy Chief Whips in the House of Commons. The current holder of the office is Ma ...

from 1969 until Labour's election defeat in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

. Morris was PPS to

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

during his tenure as

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

from 1970 to 1974. He briefly served as Urban Affairs Minister in the Environment Department after Labour returned to government in 1974, and as Minister for the Civil Service Department from 1974 to 1979. Morris was appointed to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, 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 mon ...

in 1977. His final front bench role was as Shadow Deputy

Leader of the House of Commons The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of the ...

from 1979 to 1983. He retired from Parliament after his constituency was abolished at the 1983 general election, as he was unable to secure candidacy in another constituency. Morris helped run the unsuccessful Labour campaign at the 1983 general election. After leaving Parliament, he returned to work at his former trade union.

Personal life

His brother, Alf, served as Labour MP for Manchester Wythenshawe from 1964 until 1997, when he was appointed to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. Alf introduced the first piece of disability rights legislation in history in 1970, and served as the first ever minister for disabled people from 1974 to 1979. Morris married Pauline Dunn in 1950, with whom he had daughters Estelle and Heather. Estelle served as Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley from 1992 until 2005, when she was also appointed to the House of Lords. She was Education and Skills Secretary from 2001 to 2002, and a Minister of State between 1997 and 2005. He died from cancer on 8 January 2012 in Manchester.

References

External links

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'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Charles 1926 births 2012 deaths Councillors in Manchester English trade unionists Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 Politicians from Manchester Treasurers of the Household UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Union of Communication Workers-sponsored MPs

Early life and career

Parliamentary career

Personal life

See also

References

External links