Jessica Morden | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2018 | |||||||||||||||
| Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party | |||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 17 July 2024 | |||||||||||||||
| Leader | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | John Cryer | ||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forNewport East | |||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 5 May 2005 | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Alan Howarth | ||||||||||||||
| Majority | 9,009 (23.4%) | ||||||||||||||
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| General Secretary ofWelsh Labour | |||||||||||||||
| In office 1999–2005 | |||||||||||||||
| Leader | Alun Michael Rhodri Morgan | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Anita Gale | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Chris Roberts | ||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1968-05-29)29 May 1968 (age 56) Surrey, England | ||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Birmingham (BA) | ||||||||||||||
| Website | jessicamorden | ||||||||||||||
Jessica Elizabeth Morden (born 29 May 1968) is a British politician serving asMember of Parliament (MP) forNewport East since2005. A member of theLabour Party, she was General Secretary ofWelsh Labour from 1999 until her election to Parliament.
Born inSurrey,England, Morden grew up inCwmbran and educated atCroesyceiliog School before reading Medieval and Modern History (BA) at theUniversity of Birmingham.
In 1991, Morden worked forHuw Edwards, MP forMonmouth. Between 1992 and 1995 she worked forLlew Smith, MP forBlaenau Gwent. Before becoming an MP, Morden was General Secretary ofWelsh Labour from 1999 to 2005. She organised some of Labour's election campaigns for the1997 election.[1]
Morden was selected as the Labour Party candidate forNewport East in the 2005 general election by theall-women shortlists method.[1] She was elected as the first female MP in South East Wales with a 6,800 majority.
Morden served asParliamentary Private Secretary to theSecretary of State for Wales The Rt HonPeter Hain MP until May 2010, and later as Shadow Parliamentary Private Secretary toOwen Smith MP during his time asShadow Secretary of State for Wales.
In her first term, Morden completed the Police Parliamentary Scheme, spending a month during recess with a range of departments and frontline police officers in Gwent Police. She was also appointed by theSpeaker to the Members’ Advisory Committee to oversee the setting up of the first ever nursery in the House of Commons.
Morden served as a Senior Whip in the Opposition Whips’ office with responsibility forEU Withdrawal,Wales, andPrime Minister's Questions. She was elected as chair of theSelect Committee on Statutory Instruments in November 2018 and, following the2019 election, re-elected in February 2020.
Morden claimed a total of £167,060 in expenses in 2007/08, the 30th most claimed by the 643 members of the House of Commons. Within approved guidelines, Morden used some of the expenses allowance which was unspent from the previous year to provide additional office space after having a baby;[2] the previous year she claimed £133,592, the 406th highest that year.[3]
In March 2008, some of Jessica Morden's constituents criticised her after she voted against aConservative parliamentary motion to halt the closure of hundreds of Post Offices whilst simultaneously campaigning to save the Christchurch Road branch in Newport East.[4]
She supported her former employer Owen Smith in his unsuccessful attempt to replaceJeremy Corbyn in the2016 Labour leadership election.[5]
Jessica Morden was re-elected at the2017 general election, having increased her majority to 8,003. She was re-elected at the 2019 general election with a reduced majority of 1,992.
In February 2023, theLeader of the OppositionKeir Starmer appointed her as his Parliamentary Private Secretary. In theSeptember 2023 shadow cabinet reshuffle, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Wales, junior to Shadow SecretaryJo Stevens.[6]
After winning re-election in the2024 general election, which saw Labour win its first mandate since 2005 and its largest majority since 1997, Morden announced her candidacy to be chair of theParliamentary Labour Party. Former chairJohn Cryer stood down at the election, triggering a contest to select his replacement. During her campaign, she emphasised that the "role [is] often described as theShop Steward of the PLP", that it had not had a female chair in several years (Ann Clwyd was the last one), and promised to carry on what she said was Cryer's success in maintaining lines of communication between Labour MPs irrespective of rank.[7]Clive Efford, chair of theTribune Group of Labour MPs, stood against her. Morden was considered the favourite of Keir Starmer and the party leadership, while Efford was considered as the alternative candidate who had the support of MPs on the left.[8] On 17 July 2024, Morden was elected chair over Efford.[9]
Morden is one of nine presidents ofBetter Planet Education.[10]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forNewport East 2005–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | General Secretary ofWelsh Labour 1999–2005 | Succeeded by Chris Roberts |
