Patricia Morris, Baroness Morris of Bolton, (born 16 January 1953), is a British peer and former Shadow Minister for

Women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

and an

Opposition 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 ...

for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. Morris was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

in 2004, and has previously been Vice-Chairman of the Conservatives with responsibility for candidates. She was

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

University of Bolton , established = 2004 – gained University Status 1982 – Bolton Institute of Higher Education , type = Public , endowment = £160,000 (2009) , administrative_staff = 700+ , chancellor ...

Political career

Prior to entering 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 ...

, Trish Morris was Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party with responsibility for candidates. She was responsible for several changes in the selection procedure designed to increase the quality and diversity of Parliamentary candidates. She was nominated for a peerage by the then Conservative leader,

Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was S ...

, and entered the House of Lords in June 2004. She joined the Conservative

front bench In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

as a Whip in September of that year. In June 2005 she was appointed Shadow Minister for Children, Young People, Families and Women and in October 2006 became principal opposition spokesman for Education & Skills. Morris relinquished her role as Shadow Minister for Children, Schools & Families at the end of 2008, but remained Shadow Minister for Women and an Opposition Whip. In November 2009 she featured in the controversy over the selection of

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down ...

as prospective parliamentary candidate for

South West Norfolk South West Norfolk is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Liz Truss, a Conservative, who was prime minister of the United Kingdom from September to October 2022. Constituency profile This is ...

. Truss had faced criticism for allegedly not disclosing to the selection committee a past affair with a married MP. Morris was quoted supporting her, saying "Liz is a first class candidate", and saying of the affair that "In this day and age that shouldn't matter".

Personal life and voluntary work

Morris lives in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

. Her husband William is a judge. In her

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

in the House of Lords she revealed that she broke her back in a riding accident when she was a teenager. She is President of the

National Benevolent Institution National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and a trustee of The Disability Partnership and The Transformation Trust. She is a

school governor In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, school governors are the overseers of a school. In state schools, they have three main functions: *Giving the school a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction *Holding the headteacher to account for the ...

and trustee of

Bolton School Bolton School is an independent day school in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It comprises a co-educational nursery, co-educational infant school (ages 3–7), single sex junior schools (ages 7–11) and single sex senior schools including sixth fo ...

which she attended as a child; a patron of the Oxford Parent Infant Project and vice-chairman of the

All Party Parliamentary Group An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) is a grouping in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that is composed of members of parliament from all political parties, but have no official status within Parliament. Description and functions All-party ...

for Breast Cancer and Children. She is co-chair of Women in Public Policy and on the executive committee of the

Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools The Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools (AGBIS) is the supporting and advisory organisation for governing bodies of independent schools in the UK, and is a member of the Independent Schools Council. History The Association of Go ...

. Morris was a member of the Advisory Committee to the Abbot of

Ampleforth Abbey Ampleforth Abbey is a monastery of Benedictine monks a mile to the east of Ampleforth, North Yorkshire, England, part of the English Benedictine Congregation. It claims descent from the pre-Reformation community at Westminster Abbey through th ...

from 1998 to 2004, served as deputy chairman of the

Salford Royal Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust operated Salford Royal Hospital in Greater Manchester until 2017. Its chief executive is Dr Owen Williams. In December 2017 it was announced that the Trust was to form a new healthcare organisation by combining ...

hospital

NHS foundation trust A foundation trust is a semi-autonomous organisational unit within the National Health Service in England. They have a degree of independence from the Department of Health and Social Care (and, until the abolition of SHAs in 2013, their local s ...

, and as a director of

Bolton Lads and Girls Club Bolton Lads and Girls Club is a youth club and registered charity based in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It is one of the largest youth clubs in the United Kingdom, with a membership of over 4,000 young people. Based in Bolton's town centre, the ...

and was a member of the Conservative Party's Social Work Commission. She joined the Board of Trustees of

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

UK in 2007. She succeeded Lord Patten as President of

Medical Aid for Palestinians Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) is a British charity that offers medical services in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon, and advocates for Palestinians' rights to health and dignity. It is in special consultative status with ECOSOC since 2002. Ai ...

after he had resigned the post in June 2011 upon becoming Chairman of the

BBC Trust The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim was to make decisions in the best interests of ...

. On 27 November 2009 Morris was appointed as the first

of the

, with a three-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2010.

References

External links

Search page for speeches by Baroness Morris
in

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official print ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris Of Bolton, Patricia Morris 1954 births Living people People from Bolton Conservative Party (UK) life peers Deputy Lieutenants of Greater Manchester People associated with the University of Bolton Officers of the Order of the British Empire Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II