About – Wendy Morton MP

About Wendy

Parliamentary Career

Wendy first entered Parliament as the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills in May 2015.

During Theresa May’s premiership Wendy was a member of the Government as an Assistant Government Whip between January 2018 and July 2019, having previously served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ministers at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and to the Secretary of State for International Development.

In forming his first administration Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed Wendy to the Government as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice: making her the first Member of Parliament for Aldridge-Brownhills to be appointed as a Government Minister.

Following the Government’s re-election in 2019 Wendy was appointed as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, this was followed by promotion to Minister of State for Transport with responsibility for the Railways in December 2021.

In September 2022 Wendy was appointed to the Cabinet as Government Chief Whip and was the first female Conservative politician to hold this role.

The start of my political career

Wendy was born and bred in North Yorkshire. Following leaving school, she joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Following her marriage Wendy and her husband set up their own small business whilst she developed an interest in politics and public service.

Having being elected as a Councillor she set upon a path towards being a Member of Parliament firstly standing the 2005 and 2010 General Elections.

For many years Wendy has supported volunteering and social action and has been actively involved in local community projects.

Before becoming a Member of Parliament, Wendy served as vice-chairman of the Conservative Party and held responsibility for social action. She was also joint-project leader for international social action initiative Project Umubano, which has organised projects in Rwanda, Burundi, and Sierra Leone.

Having always had an interest in defence related issues Wendy successfully completed all the stages of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme learning more about the Royal Navy, the RAF and the British Army.

Outside of politics Wendy has taken part in many charities walks and runs. She is a member of Rotary, and she enjoys collecting art deco ceramics. She also enjoys spending time canal boating with family and friends.

Legislative Work

Between 2015 – 2018 as a backbench Member of Parliament I successfully steered two Private Members Bills through Parliament, both of which received Royal Assent and became law.

The NHS (Charitable Trusts etc.) Act 2016 ensures that Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity retains the royalties to J.M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan.

I was absolutely delighted that in my first year I successfully steered through Parliament a Private Members Bill, commonly known in my office at the time as the Peter Pan and Wendy Bill.

It was an important Bill because it gave the new independent Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity to continue to receive crucial Royalties from the Peter Pan stories which were bequeathed to the hospital by JM Barrie.

It also removed the requirement for the Secretary of State for Health to appoint trustees of NHS charities, thus reducing the involvement of the Department of Health in NHS charities, something which will provide the organisations with clear independence and more freedom to grow and flourish.

The work and influence of Great Ormond Street Hospital stretches way beyond Greater London, and NHS Charities across the country more generally, including Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, do fantastic work supporting patients, families and staff at so many of our NHS hospitals. Much of this goes unheralded and they deserve our support and recognition, and it was a particular high point of my time as a Member of Parliament.

My second Bill, The ‘Local Audit (Public Access to Documents) Act 2017’ gives journalists the opportunity to examine public documents ensuring that there are greater levels of transparency and open government.