PPC Profile: Grahame Morris

Full Name: Grahame Mark Morris

Age: 48

From: Born and brought up in the Easington Constituency

PPC for: Easington

Website: www.grahamemorris.com

Twitter: @GrahameMorris

Selection Result: I won in September 2007 with an open selection from a shortlist that included a barrister, college lecturer and full time union officer. I won in the first round with 277 votes.

Member of the Labour Party since: I joined the Labour Party as a Young Socialist aged 15 in 1976.

CV:
I have spent all of my adult life working with others to bring about improvements for local residents in East Durham. With thirty years of commitment to the Labour movement and a proven track record of service to the community, I feel tremendously privileged to be carrying the standard for the Labour Party at the next election. I fully intend to fight to maintain this historically important seat for Labour.

I was inspired to go into politics because:
I abhor racism and as a reaction to the rise of the far right National Front in the 1970s I joined protests organised by the Anti Nazi League and Rock against Racism. I was also politicised by the right wing policies pursued by the then Tory government and the impact it was having upon our manufacturing base, particularly the steel industry.

I am very much steeped in the Labour tradition and as such believe there is no greater deprivation than poverty of ambition. As a consequence, I have always sought to raise the aspirations of East Durham’s communities through my work with the voluntary and community sector.

I am determined to improve the life chances of working people and their families. My touchstone is Labour’s traditional values of decency, fairness and social justice and I am dedicated to see everyone, regardless of their personal circumstances, given the opportunity to fulfil their potential – and I intend to fight determinedly on their behalf in Westminster.

I am married with two sons and live in Dawdon in Seaham. In my eyes, my late father was a giant with the heart of a lion. He was an electrician at Murton Colliery and a strong union man. My mother who served as a Labour Councillor had a number of jobs which included working part time at Hawthorn cokeworks in the pit canteen.

Having spent my early career in the NHS, working in a Medical Laboratory Scientific Officer in Sunderland I was active in my trade union and became ASTMS Health Service Branch Secretary and served on a national advisory committee for the NHS.

I began working as constituency agent and case worker for John Cummings MP in 1987, about the same time as I was elected as a Labour Member of Easington District Council. I served as a Labour Group Officer and chaired a number of committees including the Finance and General Purposes Committee and helped to introduce the Executive/Scrutiny split that replaced the old committee system. I found my period of office as a District Councillor personally fulfilling and I also developed a particular interest in local economic regeneration.

In 2000, I was appointed Parliamentary Officer for the all party National Association of Councillors organising training events and providing information on policy development in local government to councillors across the United Kingdom. To this day I take pride in working with Labour colleagues on the new Durham County Council and the various Town and Parish Councils serving the constituency to bring about improvements for Easington’s communities and the lives of its residents.

I have worked successfully with local community groups to develop a strategy and drive forward a £50 million retail development at Dalton Park. I was involved in petitioning and organising evidence for the public enquiry and was part of the delegation that lobbied Parliament to press the case with Ministers which was ultimately successful bringing 400 much needed new jobs to the Easington Constituency. I was recently elected Vice Chair of the East Durham Area Action Partnership representing the public and community sector.

My main policy interests are:
Local government, addressing health inequalities, driving forward economic regeneration initiatives, tackling anti-social behaviour and attending to the needs of local communities in Easington.

Three things I should like to be in the next Labour Manifesto are:
1 – A commitment to a properly funded programme of affordable decent homes to buy and rent. This must include a level playing field for local authorities being free to build new homes for rent to meet local demand and greater regulation of the private rented sector to hold landlords accountable for the actions of their tenants through the housing benefits system.

2 – A commitment to engage with the public and private sectors and with individuals to tackle climate change through a range of measures that would create many tens of thousands of jobs in the UK. The development of green technologies, clean coal and carbon capture technology is an important part of this strategy. As part of this commitment I would like to see a national database compiled that identifies SAP ratings and CO2 emissions from all domestic and commercial properties which would form the basis for incentives to reduce emissions and a targeted programme of action (the model for which is available now and was developed in Easington).

3 – Fulfilment of the commitment to restore the link between the state retirement pension and average earnings that was broken by Margaret Thatcher.

I think people should vote for me because:
I believe sincerely that Labour in government will continue to make a positive contribution to improving people’s lives. The introduction of the Minimum Wage, Winter Fuel Payments, Child Tax Credits and Working Families Tax Credits have lifted thousands of people in the Easington Constituency out of poverty and have helped to restore respect and dignity to communities hard hit by joblessness and the low wage economy.

Over the last thirty years or so I have a proven track record of service to the communities of East Durham. I am proud to be associated with the area and to call it home. In my book, there is no finer place to live and no better people to work for. I will be a truly local candidate and I will fight to get the best deal for East Durham within the region and nationally.

I was born in Easington, I grew up in Murton and went to secondary school in Peterlee – and I’ve lived here all my life. I know this area and I know its problems. Most of all I know the people and they know I am on their side and that I will do my level best by them.

AOB:
Contact me at: Grahame Morris, Campaign Office, Glebe Centre, Durham Place, Murton, Seaham, County Durham SR7 9BX. Email me at: [email protected]