Nicky Morgan (politician)
Encyclopedia
Nicola Ann Morgan is a British Conservative Party
politician and the Member of Parliament
for Loughborough
.
. She grew up in Surbiton and attended Surbiton High School
before studying law at St Hugh's College, Oxford
. She qualified as a solicitor in 1994 and worked as a corporate lawyer specialising in mergers and acquisitions before taking on an in-house counsel role advising on corporate law matters.
She is married to Jonathan, an architect. They have one son, Alex, who was born in January 2008.
In her spare time Morgan runs, attends her local church and enjoys cooking, skiing and the cinema.
Young Conservatives from 1995–97 and Vice-chair, Battersea
Conservatives from 1997-99.
She fought Islington South and Finsbury in the 2001 General Election.
She was a school governor for 8 years.
Morgan was first selected for the Loughborough seat in 2004 and in the 2005 General Election
Morgan achieved a swing to the Conservatives in the Loughborough seat, making it the most marginal seat
in the East Midlands
. Morgan was reselected for the Loughborough seat in 2006.
In the 2010 General Election Morgan was elected as the MP for Loughborough on a swing of 5.5% with a majority of 3,744 votes. She made her maiden speech
in a debate on Economic Affairs and Work and Pensions on 8 June 2010.
In June, 2010, she was selected as a Conservative member of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee but was replaced following promotion
in September to parliamentary private secretary
to the Universities and Science Minister
David Willetts
.
President to continue an earlier on-campus debate on the tripling of
student tuition fees.
Morgan agreed that the fees could be daunting but said it was fair to ask people to invest in their own education and that the numbers wanting to attend was unsustainable. Some universities might decide not to charge the full amount. The reforms were also about putting students in the driving seat and they should ask a lot more questions about how courses would improve employment prospects. The Government and universities should work together to show why education was worthwhile. Financial help in the form of a National Scholarship program was available. Higher earners would pay a greater rate of interest.
Hopkins agreed the Government had tried to find fairer options but said 18 year olds would still be paying off up to £40k of debt when their own children went to university. Whilst the government blamed the economic crisis on excessive debts, debt was exactly what students were now taking on and there was no guarantee of a better job - or even a job at all. It was very naive of the Government to think poor students would not be deterred. Future business leaders should go to the best universities but first generation students would either chose an affordable university or not attend. People were very emotional and passionate about higher education.
Morgan said people would have up to 30 years to pay off debts and would pay nothing until their salary reached £21k. She herself had taken 8 years to pay her much smaller debts. University wasn't a rite of passage and there were lots of other ways of continuing education. She would advise the Government on points from the debate.
On 17 November 2010 around 100 Loughborough students joined UK student tuition fee protests
. A small group of protesters subsequently broke from the demonstration, threw missiles at police officers and rioted at the Conservative Party headquarters in Millbank. No Loughborough students were involved and Hopkins condemned the rioters.
In July 2011, The Office for Fair Access
released fee details showing the average charge for 2012 is expected to be £8,393 -nearly £900 more than predicted.
in action.
In February 2011, she visited the new offices of Dialog Devices at Loughborough Innovation Centre
The company has been awarded a Department of Health grant for development of a device with the potential to provide an early diagnosis of Peripheral arterial disease.
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician and the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Loughborough
Loughborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Loughborough is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-Boundaries:...
.
Background
Morgan was born in Kingston upon ThamesKingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames is the principal settlement of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in southwest London. It was the ancient market town where Saxon kings were crowned and is now a suburb situated south west of Charing Cross. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the...
. She grew up in Surbiton and attended Surbiton High School
Surbiton High School
Surbiton High School is a private school in Surbiton in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England. It was founded in 1884 by a group of Anglican clergymen who instituted the Church Schools Company...
before studying law at St Hugh's College, Oxford
St Hugh's College, Oxford
St Hugh's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. It is located on a fourteen and a half acre site on St Margaret's Road, to the North of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 as a women's college, and accepted its first male students in its centenary year in 1986...
. She qualified as a solicitor in 1994 and worked as a corporate lawyer specialising in mergers and acquisitions before taking on an in-house counsel role advising on corporate law matters.
She is married to Jonathan, an architect. They have one son, Alex, who was born in January 2008.
In her spare time Morgan runs, attends her local church and enjoys cooking, skiing and the cinema.
Political career
Morgan joined the Conservative Party in 1989 and was the Chair of WessexWessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
Young Conservatives from 1995–97 and Vice-chair, Battersea
Battersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
Conservatives from 1997-99.
She fought Islington South and Finsbury in the 2001 General Election.
She was a school governor for 8 years.
Morgan was first selected for the Loughborough seat in 2004 and in the 2005 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
Morgan achieved a swing to the Conservatives in the Loughborough seat, making it the most marginal seat
Marginal seat
A marginal seat, or swing seat, is a constituency held with a particularly small majority in a legislative election, generally conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat....
in the East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...
. Morgan was reselected for the Loughborough seat in 2006.
In the 2010 General Election Morgan was elected as the MP for Loughborough on a swing of 5.5% with a majority of 3,744 votes. She made her maiden speech
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 a debate on Economic Affairs and Work and Pensions on 8 June 2010.
In June, 2010, she was selected as a Conservative member of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee but was replaced following promotion
in September to parliamentary private secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to the Universities and Science Minister
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform .-Ministers:The BIS...
David Willetts
David Willetts
David Linsay Willetts is a British Conservative Party politician and the Minister of State for Universities and Science. He is the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire.-Education:...
.
Student fees
On 7 November 2010, Morgan appeared on the Politics Show with Lucy Hopkins, Loughborough Students' UnionLoughborough Students' Union
Loughborough Students' Union is the students' union serving members from Loughborough University, Loughborough College and the RNIB College Loughborough....
President to continue an earlier on-campus debate on the tripling of
student tuition fees.
Morgan agreed that the fees could be daunting but said it was fair to ask people to invest in their own education and that the numbers wanting to attend was unsustainable. Some universities might decide not to charge the full amount. The reforms were also about putting students in the driving seat and they should ask a lot more questions about how courses would improve employment prospects. The Government and universities should work together to show why education was worthwhile. Financial help in the form of a National Scholarship program was available. Higher earners would pay a greater rate of interest.
Hopkins agreed the Government had tried to find fairer options but said 18 year olds would still be paying off up to £40k of debt when their own children went to university. Whilst the government blamed the economic crisis on excessive debts, debt was exactly what students were now taking on and there was no guarantee of a better job - or even a job at all. It was very naive of the Government to think poor students would not be deterred. Future business leaders should go to the best universities but first generation students would either chose an affordable university or not attend. People were very emotional and passionate about higher education.
Morgan said people would have up to 30 years to pay off debts and would pay nothing until their salary reached £21k. She herself had taken 8 years to pay her much smaller debts. University wasn't a rite of passage and there were lots of other ways of continuing education. She would advise the Government on points from the debate.
On 17 November 2010 around 100 Loughborough students joined UK student tuition fee protests
2010 UK student protests
The 2010 UK student protests were a series of demonstrations that began in November 2010 in several areas of the United Kingdom, with the focal point of protests centred in London. The initial event was the largest student protest in the UK since the Labour government first proposed the Teaching...
. A small group of protesters subsequently broke from the demonstration, threw missiles at police officers and rioted at the Conservative Party headquarters in Millbank. No Loughborough students were involved and Hopkins condemned the rioters.
In July 2011, The Office for Fair Access
Office for Fair Access
The Office for Fair Access is a non-departmental public body responsible for ensuring that any university or higher education institution in England which plans to charge variable tuition fees starting with the academic year 2006/7 has in place an acceptable plan to promote equitable access among...
released fee details showing the average charge for 2012 is expected to be £8,393 -nearly £900 more than predicted.
Other issues
In July 2010, Morgan asked the Prime Minister to join her in congratulating Loughborough university student union rag committee on raising more money on behalf of the Royal British Legion than any other rag in the country. Both agreed it was an example of the Big SocietyBig Society
The Big Society was the flagship policy idea of the 2010 UK Conservative Party general election manifesto. It now forms part of the legislative programme of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement. The aim is "to create a climate that empowers local people and communities, building...
in action.
In February 2011, she visited the new offices of Dialog Devices at Loughborough Innovation Centre
The company has been awarded a Department of Health grant for development of a device with the potential to provide an early diagnosis of Peripheral arterial disease.