Elliot Anthony Morley (born 6 July 1952) is a British former Labour Party politician, who was the

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 o ...

(MP) for Glanford and Scunthorpe from 1987 to 1997 and then

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A ...

from 1997 to 2010. In 2009, he was accused by ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' of continuing to claim parliamentary expenses for a mortgage that had already been repaid. Morley was prosecuted and on 7 April 2011 pleaded guilty in Southwark Crown Court 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 a quarter of his sentence.

Early life

He attended St Margaret's C of E High School on Aigburth Road in Aigburth in south

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and received a

BEd A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax. Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds ...

from Hull College of Education. He was head of

Special Needs In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs (or additional needs) refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in b ...

at Greatfield High School in Hull.

Political career

Before entering Parliament, Morley was a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member of Hull City Council representing

Drypool Drypool (''archaic'' DripoleAlso Dritpole, Dritpol, Dripold, Dripol, Dridpol) is an area within the city of Kingston upon Hull, England. Historically Drypool was a village, manor and later parish on the east bank of the River Hull near the con ...

Ward from 1979 to 1986. He stood unsuccessfully for

Beverley Beverley is a market and minster town and a civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre and north-west of City of Hull. The town is known fo ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

. He served as Fisheries Minister from 1997 to 2003, and then as

Environment Minister An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of an ...

in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, but left government in the May 2006 reshuffle. During his time in government, Morley pushed 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 Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwa ...

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 The Energy and Climate Change Select Committee was a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that came into existence on 1 January 2009. Formation The House of Commons agreed to the committee's establish ...

, 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, ''

'' alleged on 14 May 2009 that Morley claimed £800 a month in respect of a property in Winterton, near

, for 18 months after the mortgage ended, and received an overpayment of £16,800 in total. ''The Telegraph'' also alleged Morley let a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

flat designated as his main residence to another Labour MP,

Ian Cawsey Ian Arthur Cawsey (born 14 April 1960) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brigg and Goole from 1997 until his defeat at the 2010 general election. Early life and career He went to Welholme Prim ...

, 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 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 is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

that he had repaid the money two weeks before ''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 The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an officer of the British House of Commons. The work of the officer is overseen by the Commons Select Committee on Standards. The current commissioner is Kathryn Stone. Duties The commissioner i ...

, 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 Michael Chaytor (born 3 August 1949) is a former British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury North from 1997 to 2010. He was the first member of Parliament to be sentenced following the United Kingdom ...

Jim Devine James Devine (born 21 May 1953) is a former Member of Parliament. He was the Labour Party member for Livingston from 2005 until 2010 and Chairman of the Scottish Labour Party between 1994 and 1995. On 16 June 2009, following the 2009 expenses ...

, and Lord Hanningfield (Paul White) appeared at

Southwark Crown Court The Crown Court at Southwark, commonly but inaccurately called Southwark Crown Court, is one of two locations of the Crown Court in the London SE1 postcode area, along with the Crown Court at Inner London. Opened in 1983, the brick building is ...

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. It was the first expulsion since

Edgar Speyer Sir Edgar Speyer, 1st Baronet (7 September 1862 – 16 February 1932) was an American-born financier and philanthropist. Barker 2004. He became a British subject in 1892 and was chairman of Speyer Brothers, the British branch of the Speyer fami ...

in 1921. Morley was previously a Honorary Fellow of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

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 daughter (born 1980) and a son (born August 1984). He is Honorary Vice President of the

Association of Drainage Authorities The Association of Drainage Authorities (ADA) is a membership body for internal drainage boards and other stakeholders in water level management in the United Kingdom. ADA obtains and disseminates information on matters of importance and interes ...

and

Wildlife and Countryside Link Wildlife and Countryside Link (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. Link currently ...

. He has an Honorary Fellowship from the

University of Lincoln , mottoeng = Freedom through wisdom , established = 1861 – Hull School of Art1905 – Endsleigh College1976 – Hull College1992 – University of Humberside1996 – University of Lincolnshire and Humberside2001 � ...

for services to nature conservation. He is a former President of Hull Teachers Association.

Notes

References

External links

Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Elliot Morley MP
* * !--http://www.newstatesman.com/200306300016-->https://web.archive.org/web/20101010143630/http://www.newstatesman.com/200306300016 Interview with John Kampfner in The New Statesman Magazine – 30 June 2003] {{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, Elliot 1952 births Living people Birdwatchers Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Borough of North Lincolnshire Politicians from Liverpool UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Councillors in the East Riding of Yorkshire British politicians convicted of fraud British politicians convicted of crimes English prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales People educated at St Margaret's Church of England High School (Liverpool) Labour Party (UK) councillors People expelled from the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Alumni of Hull College of Education 21st-century British criminals Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom