Morton stood as the
Conservative candidate in
Newcastle upon Tyne Central at the
2005 general election, coming third with 16% behind the incumbent
Labour MP
Jim Cousins and the
Liberal Democrat candidate. At the
2010 general election, Morton stood in
Tynemouth, coming second with 34.4% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP
Alan Campbell. In October 2014, Morton attempted to be selected as the Conservative candidate for
Richmond, but was defeated by
Rishi Sunak, the future
Prime Minister.
1st term (2015–2017) Morton was elected to Parliament as MP for
Aldridge-Brownhills with 52% of the vote and a majority of 11,723. Her first Private Members bill, NHS (Charitable Trusts, etc.) Bill, received
Royal assent on 23 March 2016 and is now law. Her Second Private Member's Bill the Local Audit (Public Access to Documents) bill received Royal Assent on 27 April 2017. Morton was opposed to
Brexit prior to the
2016 referendum. Morton supported
Theresa May in the
2016 Conservative Party leadership election. In the summer of 2016, she was appointed a
Parliamentary Private Secretary at the newly created
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
2nd term (2017–2019) At the snap
2017 general election, Morton was re-elected as MP for Aldridge-Brownhills with an increased vote share of 65.4% and an increased majority of 14,307. She was made an assistant
government whip during the
reshuffle on 9 January 2018. After
Boris Johnson won the
2019 Conservative Party leadership election, Morton said that Johnson would bring "real energy, vision and determination" to the role of Prime Minister and said: "Now he must get on and deliver Brexit, and importantly get it done by October 31". She became a
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the
Ministry of Justice in the
Johnson ministry on 26 July 2019.
3rd term (2019–2024) Morton was again re-elected at the
2019 general election with an increased vote share of 70.8% and an increased majority of 27,850. In February 2020 as Minister for Victims, Morton pledged an increase in government funding for rape support services. In the
2020 cabinet reshuffle, Morton was promoted to
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for European Neighbourhood and the Americas at the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She was reshuffled to the
Department for Transport on 19 December 2021, following the move of responsibility for the United Kingdom's relationship with the
European Union to the
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in a straight job-swap with
Chris Heaton-Harris. Morton endorsed
Liz Truss during the
July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. She was sworn in as a member of the
Privy Council on 13 September 2022. The same day she was the recipient of alleged abusive texts from
Gavin Williamson over his exclusion from the guest list of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey. During a further text exchange on 17 October, she wrote, "I need no lecture from you Gavin when I ask a civil question". She later confirmed that she had resigned, but Truss rejected her resignation and she instead continued as Chief Whip. On 24 October, Morton submitted a formal complaint to Conservative Campaign Headquarters over Williamson's text messages. On 26 October, following Williamson's promotion to Cabinet, Morton escalated her complaint by flagging and supplying the offending texts to the Cabinet Office's Proprietary and Ethics Team. Morton asked for anonymity but the text content was leaked to the Sunday Times and also appeared in the Telegraph and Metro on 7 November 2022. On 8 November, Sky News reported that Morton has lodged a complaint with the Parliamentary watchdog, Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, regarding the content of the text messages that she had previously reported identical allegations to her party executive as abusive.
4th term (2024–present) At the
2024 general election, Morton was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 38.8% and a decreased majority of 4,231. Morton stood in the election for
Deputy Speaker in the House of Commons on 23 July 2024, but was defeated by her Conservative colleagues
Nus Ghani and
Caroline Nokes. ==Notes==