Morris was made a life peer in 2004,and has previously been Vice-Chairman of the Conservatives with responsibility for candidates.[1] She was Chancellor of the University of Bolton.
Political career
Prior to entering the House of Lords,Trish Morris was Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Party with responsibility for candidates. She was responsible for several changes[which?] in the selection procedure designed to increase the quality and diversity of Parliamentary candidates.
She was nominated for a peerage by the then Conservative leader,Iain Duncan Smith,and entered the House of Lords as Baroness Morris of Bolton in June 2004. She joined the Conservative front bench as a Whip in September of that year. In June 2005 she was appointed Shadow Minister for Children,Young People,Families and Women and in October 2006 became principal opposition spokesman for Education &Skills. Morris relinquished her role as Shadow Minister for Children,Schools &Families at the end of 2008,but remained Shadow Minister for Women and an Opposition Whip.[2]
In November 2009 she featured in the controversy over the selection of Liz Truss as prospective parliamentary candidate for South West Norfolk. Truss had faced criticism for allegedly not disclosing to the selection committee a past affair with a married MP. Morris was quoted supporting her,saying "Liz is a first class candidate",and saying of the affair that "In this day and age that shouldn't matter".[3]
Personal life and voluntary work
Morris lives in Bolton. Her husband William is a judge. In her maiden speech in the House of Lords she revealed that she broke her back in a riding accident when she was a teenager.[4]
On 27 November 2009 Morris was appointed as the first Chancellor of the University of Bolton,with a three-year term of office beginning on 1 January 2010.[6]
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