Joe Morris is the Labour MP for Hexham, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Morris won 23,988 votes, representing 46.3% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Guy Opperman, received 20,275 votes (39.1%), while the Green Party candidate, Nick Morphet, secured 2,467 votes (4.8%). Morris was duly elected with a majority of 3,713.

The Hexham constituency is located in Northumberland, in the North East of England. The seat was held by the Conservative Party from 1924 to 2024.

Morris’ immediate predecessor as the MP for Hexham was Guy Opperman of the Conservative Party. Opperman held the seat from 2010 to 2024.

Political Career

Morris served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Department of Health and Social Care from February 2025 to May 2026. A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs. The role is widely regarded as the first step on the ministerial ladder.

In May 2026, Morris called for Keir Starmer to resign as prime minister. The move followed the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru. Morris did not initially state that they had resigned his role. However, the government moved quickly to announce his replacement.

Morris’ resignation was seen as significant due to his position in the Department of Health and Social Care. He was reported to be an ally of Wes Streeting, the health secretary.

In a statement at the time, Morris said Starmer had “lost the confidence of the public.”

He added: “I have boundless confidence in the Labour Party and in our ability to rise to this moment. However, regrettably, it is now clear that the prime minister no longer has the trust or confidence of the public to lead this change…

“It is in the best interests of the country and the party that the prime minister sets out a swift timetable to ensure that a new leader is in place to regain the confidence of the public and to ensure that the government can deliver on the commitments it has made.”

Morris has sat as a member of the House of Commons administration committee (2024-2025).

Morris delivered his maiden speech on 19 July 2024 during a debate on planning, the green belt and rural affairs.

In it, he said: “I know that a great state education has the ability to change lives and to lift and change entire areas. I want every child in the constituency to have access to the kind of education that I was lucky enough to get.”

He added: “At every door I knocked on during the election campaign, I got the message for change. I know it is incredibly important to get on with that change by supporting the king’s speech, so that we become the confident, outward-looking nation that we so evidently can be.

“I am conscious that we cannot work miracles in this place, and as the first ever Labour MP for my constituency, I know that I was not sent to this place with an expectation of overnight success.

“I was sent here to get on with working with colleagues across the House to deliver genuine outcomes and genuine change for my constituents.”

Political Views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Morris was one of 175 Labour MPs who nominated Bridget Phillipson for the party’s deputy leadership in September 2025. The election followed the resignation of Angela Rayner, who stepped down as deputy prime minister and deputy party leader after an investigation into her tax affairs. It marked the first time since 2007 that Labour had held a deputy leadership contest while in government.

Phillipson, the serving education secretary, was widely viewed as the candidate favoured by Downing Street and the party leadership. She secured 175 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), comfortably exceeding the 80 required to reach the final ballot. She was ultimately defeated by Lucy Powell.

Factional identity and party tradition

SERA: Morris has been listed as a member of the Socialist Environment and Resources Association (SERA) – a socialist society affiliated with the Labour Party. Founded in 1973, SERA is the party’s official environmental campaign group. The organisation campaigns on a wide range of issues, including renewable energy, biodiversity, air quality and the transition to a green economy. SERA describes its member MPs as “champions for the environment”.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Morris voted in favour of the government’s flagship welfare bill at second reading. The vote came after ministers agreed to significant concessions to avoid defeat via a mass rebellion of Labour MPs on 1 July 2025.

Assisted dying

Morris 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 issued shortly after the bill’s second reading, he said: “This was not a decision I took lightly. I consulted with a wide range of organisations, heard from medical professionals, campaigners on both sides, and most importantly from constituents who shared personal, often deeply moving experiences.

“I want to thank everyone who reached out for doing so with honesty, candour, and civility.

“While I was always minded to support the bill, my vote was made with those suffering in pain at the forefront of my mind, individuals who may, under the strictest safeguards, wish to bring a dignified end to their suffering.”

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Morris 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.

Before Politics

Joseph Ronald Morris grew up in Hexham, Northumberland. He attended Sele First School, Hexham Middle School, and Queen Elizabeth High School in the town.

He studied history at Mansfield College, University of Oxford, graduating in 2014.

Morris worked for several Labour MPs from 2016 to 2020, namely Ian Lavery, Kate Hollern, Rupa Huq and Bill Esterson.

Morris also held public affairs roles, including at Make UK and Hanbury Strategy.

Personal Life

Morris’ family reportedly has roots in Northumberland spanning generations.

He is married.

Trivia

Morris is the first Labour MP ever to represent the Hexham constituency in parliament, ending a 100-year period of Conservative representation.

He joined the Labour Party in 2009.