Helen Morgan is the Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, having first been elected to Parliament in a by-election on 16 December 2021. She gained the seat from the Conservatives.

In the 2024 general election, Morgan won 26,214 votes, representing 52.9% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Simon Baynes, received 10,903 votes (22.0%), while the Reform UK candidate, Mark Whittle, secured 7,687 votes (15.5%). Morgan was duly elected with a majority of 15,311 votes. It marked the first time that a non-Conservative won North Shropshire at a general election since 1832.

The North Shropshire constituency covers the northern part of the county, including towns such as Oswestry, Market Drayton, Whitchurch and Wem. Previously considered a very safe Conservative seat, it was won by Morgan in the 2021 by-election following the resignation of Conservative MP Owen Paterson.

Political Career

Morgan currently serves on the Liberal Democrat frontbench as health and social care spokesperson. She was appointed to this role in September 2024. She was previously Liberal Democrat spokesperson for housing, communities and local government (2022-2024).

Morgan is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for digital communities, flooding and flooded communities, spinal cord injury and UK food security.

The 2021 North Shropshire by-election came after the House of Commons standards committee accused Paterson, the incumbent MP, of committing an “egregious” breach of the parliamentary rules against paid advocacy. The report recommended that Paterson, a former cabinet minister under David Cameron, be suspended from the House of Commons for 30 sitting days. This recommendation was severe enough to trigger a recall petition in his constituency under the Recall of MPs Act 2015.

But the government, led by Boris Johnson, intervened. A three-line whip was imposed instructing Conservative MPs to support an amendment, tabled by Andrea Leadsom, which noted “concerns expressed about potential defects in the standards system” and provided for a delay to Paterson’s suspension. It called for a new committee to review the entire standards system, including the potential for MPs to have a right of appeal.

Leadsom’s amendment passed by 250 votes to 232. The main motion, as amended, was passed by 248 votes to 221. This sparked an immediate and furious backlash from opposition MPs. The government was accused of using its majority to undermine parliamentary oversight and override the findings of a standards investigation.

On 5 November, Paterson announced his resignation as an MP. In a statement, he said: “I will remain a public servant but outside the cruel world of politics”.

Paterson’s resignation as an MP precipitated the North Shropshire by-election on 16 December 2021.

Morgan won the seat with 17,957 votes (47.2%) – a majority of 5,925 over the Conservative candidate. The result came on a 34.2 point swing to the Liberal Democrats from the Conservative Party. This amounted to the seventh-largest swing in UK by-election history – and the second-largest from the Conservatives to the Liberal Democrats (including predecessor parties) since 1945.

Morgan was the first non-Conservative to win the seat since 1904. Paterson had won a 22,949-vote majority at the 2019 general election.

Johnson, the then prime minister, said he accepted “personal responsibility” for the seismic by-election defeat.

In her victory speech, Morgan stated: “The people of North Shropshire have spoken on behalf of the British people. They have said loudly and clearly, ‘Boris Johnson, the party is over.’

“Your government, run on lies and bluster, will be held accountable. It will be scrutinised, it will be challenged and it can and will be defeated.”

Morgan’s victory took the number of Liberal Democrat MPs up to 13.

Morgan delivered her maiden speech on 25 January 2022 during a debate on the Judicial Review and Courts Bill.

In it, she said: “It is impossible to visit North Shropshire without being taken back in time. An iron-age fort at Oswestry starts the story, as the first settlers here pioneered the farming industry that underpins the local economy to this day.

“In Welsh, the site is known as Caer Ogyrfan, meaning ‘City of Gogyrfan’, the father of Guinevere in Arthurian legend. The intertwined story of North Shropshire and British politics may have begun there.”

She added: “I am reminded of the brave women of Wem when I consider the impact of this Bill. I am sure that colleagues on both sides of this House would agree that our democracy, which has evolved over hundreds of years, and since the 17th century largely peacefully, should be protected at all costs.”

Before entering parliament, Morgan stood unsuccessfully as the Liberal Democrat candidate for North Shropshire in the 2019 general election, finishing third. She also stood unsuccessfully for Shropshire Council in 2021.

Political views

Morgan is a member of the Green Liberal Democrats, an official environmental group within the Liberal Democrats. It aims to “promote a green approach to policy formation within the Liberal Democrats” and “develop links with the wider green movement.” The grouping, formed in 1977 as a faction within the Liberal Party, is “committed to a net-zero and nature positive future and driving ambition across the national party and in local governance.”

Brexit and Europe

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Morgan voted in favour of the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the 10-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union. In total, 13 Labour MPs joined the Liberal Democrats in supporting the motion, while the majority of the party abstained.

Electoral reform

Proportional representation bill: In December 2024, Morgan voted in favour of the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill – introduced by Liberal Democrat frontbencher Sarah Olney under the 10-minute rule procedure. The bill sought to “introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England”.

A total of 138 MPs supported the bill – with 136 opposed. Notably, 59 Labour MPs backed Olney’s bill.

Introducing the bill, Olney told the House: “First past the post is a broken and unfair system. This summer, the Labour party won a landslide election victory, securing 63% of seats in the House of Commons in return for just 34% of the vote.

“The system leaves millions of voices unheard and creates a divisive, adversarial political climate where collaboration is discouraged and accountability is often sidestepped.”

Assisted dying

Morgan voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

In a statement setting out her position, issued after the bill’s third reading, Morgan said her “view was informed by the experience of family and friends as loved ones reached the end of their lives.”

She added: “This bill is tightly drawn to relate only to those with a terminal diagnosis who are over 18 and have the mental capacity to make such a decision, and who have a clear, settled and informed wish to end their own life. They must have reached this decision voluntarily, without coercion or pressure.

“Similar legislation (in fact less tightly drawn than this) in jurisdictions across the world, such as Oregon in the US and the state of Victoria in Australia, has been in place for some time and has not had its scope expanded via the legal process. In fact there have been no instances in the world where legislation restricted to terminally ill adults has been expanded in scope.”

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Morgan voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Palestine

Ceasefire vote (November 2023): Morgan voted for a Scottish National Party (SNP) amendment to the king’s speech in the House of Commons calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war. Labour had tabled a rival motion, making a more moderate appeal for a “humanitarian pause” in the conflict.

Before Politics

Helen Margaret Lilian Halcrow was born in Nottingham on 9 April 1975. She grew up in Stone, Staffordshire.

Morgan attended Alleyne’s High School in Stone before studying history at Trinity College, Cambridge. She graduated in 1996.

She qualified as a chartered accountant and worked in various financial roles before entering politics. Her experience includes working as an audit manager for KPMG, head of financial reporting for Centrica, and head of margin forecasting for British Gas. After moving to North Shropshire in 2014, she worked as financial controller for a local real estate business.

She began her political career as a parish councillor.

Personal Life

Morgan married Robert Morgan in 2003. They live in Harmer Hill, Shropshire, with their son.

Trivia

Morgan has run half-marathons for charity.