Graeme Morrice (born 23 February 1959) is a

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of ...

politician who served as 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 of ...

(MP) for

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

from 2010 to 2015. Prior to his election to Parliament, he served as the Leader of

West Lothian Council West Lothian Council is the local authority for the council area of West Lothian in Scotland. History West Lothian District Council was created in 1975 as one of four districts within the Lothian region. The West Lothian district took its name f ...

from 1995 to 2007.

Early life and education

Edinburgh-born Morrice was educated at the Mauldeth Road Primary School,

Parrs Wood High School Parrs Wood High School is a coeducational secondary school in East Didsbury, Manchester, England, located off Wilmslow Road behind Parrs Wood Entertainment Complex. It educates pupils from the age of 11 to 18 years. A-Levels are taught at the Pa ...

and Broxburn Academy. He is an alumnus of

Edinburgh Napier University , mottoeng = Without knowledge, everything is in vain , established = 1992 – granted University status 1964 – Napier Technical College , type = Public , academic_staff = 802 , administrative_staff = 562 , chancellor = Will Whitehorn , ...

, where he was awarded a SHND in Business Studies.

Political career

First elected to

in 1987, Morrice led the council's Labour group from 1992 to 2010. He became leader of the council following the 1995 local elections, when Labour gained control from the SNP, and held the position until the party lost control in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

. In June 2009, the incumbent

Labour MP

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 ...

was barred by the party from standing for re-election due to his behaviour in the expenses scandal. Morrice was subsequently selected as Labour's candidate for the 2010 election, and comfortably elected with a majority of 22.6%. Morrice was the

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

John Denham John Denham may refer to: * John Denham (died 1556 or later), English MP for Shaftesbury * John Denham (judge), (1559–1639), father of the poet below, and one of the Ship Money judges * John Denham (poet) (1615–1669), English poet * John Denham ...

from 2010 to 2011, then

Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills The Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy is an office within British politics held by a member of His Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the government's Secr ...

, and became the PPS to

Margaret Curran Margaret Patricia Curran (born 24 November 1958) is a Scottish Labour Party politician. She served in the British House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East from 2010 to 2015 and was Shadow Secretary of State for Scotl ...

following her appointment as the

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland The Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Scotland and his/her department, the Scotland Office. The incumbent holder of the office is Ian Murray ...

. From January 2013 to May 2015, he held a further post as PPS to

Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman (born 30 July 1950) is a British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Cabi ...

, who at that time was both Shadow Deputy Prime Minister and

Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport The Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), previously Shadow Secretary of State for National Heritage and Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, is a position in the Official Opposition Shadow Ca ...

. He was previously a member of the

Scottish Affairs Select Committee The Scottish Affairs Select Committee is a Select committee (United Kingdom), select committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the e ...

. Morrice stood for re-election at the 2015 General Election, but lost the formerly safe seat to the SNP's

Hannah Bardell Hannah Mary Bardell (born 1 June 1983) is a Scottish politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Livingston since 2015. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she served as its spokesperson for Digital, Culture, Media ...

with a swing of 25.9 towards the party.

References

External links

Official Website
* Living people Scottish Labour MPs UK MPs 2010–2015 Scottish Labour councillors Politics of West Lothian Politicians from Edinburgh Alumni of Edinburgh Napier University People from Broxburn, West Lothian 1959 births People educated at Parrs Wood High School {{Scotland-Labour-UK-MP-stub