51 Facts About Nicky Morgan

Nicky Morgan was the first woman to chair the Treasury Select Committee.

Nicky Morgan was elected to the marginal seat of Loughborough at the 2010 general election.

Nicky Morgan served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from October 2013 to April 2014 and as Financial Secretary to the Treasury from April to July 2014.

Nicky Morgan first served in the Cabinet as Education Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities from 2014 until new Prime Minister Theresa May removed her from these positions in 2016.

Nicky Morgan accepted the appointment by Boris Johnson of Culture Secretary in July 2019, even though she had stated in 2018 she would not serve in a Johnson government.

In October 2019, Nicky Morgan announced she would stand down as an MP at the 2019 general election but retained her cabinet post as part of the second Johnson ministry after being elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer.

Nicky Morgan stood down from her ministerial position in Johnson's 2020 cabinet reshuffle.

Nicky Morgan was born in Kingston upon Thames in south-west London on 10 October 1972.

Nicky Morgan grew up in Surbiton and was privately educated at Surbiton High School.

Nicky Morgan joined the Conservative Party as a teenager in 1989.

Nicky Morgan twice stood unsuccessfully for president of the Oxford University Conservative Association, on the second occasion being defeated by Daniel Hannan, later a Conservative Member of the European Parliament.

Nicky Morgan was elected as treasurer of the Oxford Union Society, but failed in her bid for its presidency.

Nicky Morgan was the chair of Wessex Young Conservatives from 1995 to 1997 and vice-chair of Battersea Conservatives from 1997 to 1999.

Nicky Morgan unsuccessfully contested the Islington South and Finsbury constituency in the 2001 general election.

Nicky Morgan made her maiden speech in a debate on Economic Affairs and Work and Pensions on 8 June 2010.

Nicky Morgan was appointed as an assistant whip in September 2012 and as Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 7 October 2013.

In July 2010, Nicky Morgan asked the Prime Minister to join her in congratulating Loughborough University Student Union Rag Committee on raising more money on behalf of the Royal British Legion than any other rag in the country.

On 7 November 2010, Nicky Morgan appeared on the Politics Show with Lucy Hopkins, Loughborough Students' Union President, to continue an earlier on-campus debate on the tripling of student tuition fees.

Nicky Morgan agreed costs could be daunting but said student numbers were unsustainable, it was fair to ask people to invest in their own education and people should ask more questions about how courses would improve prospects.

In 2022 Nicky Morgan advocated that women members of the House of Lords should be able to pass on their titles to their spouses; existing rules extend this right to male peers only.

In 2013, Nicky Morgan voted against the introduction of same-sex marriage in England and Wales, citing, among other reasons, her Christian belief that marriage could only be between a man and a woman.

Nicky Morgan was appointed Secretary of State for Education in Prime Minister David Cameron's reshuffle in July 2014, replacing Michael Gove.

In September 2014, Nicky Morgan was questioned by Parliament's Education Select Committee following a report by London University's Institute of Education on conflicts of interest between academies and their financial backers.

Nicky Morgan was removed from her position of Education Secretary on 14 July 2016 under the new Prime Minister Theresa May.

In December 2014, Nicky Morgan was advised by Sir Andrew Dilnot, chair of the UK Statistics Authority, that she should "reconsider her comments" and possibly "take advice" about misleading information given to parliament.

Nicky Morgan had claimed that one third of children under the previous Labour government had left primary school unable to read or write.

Nicky Morgan's friends have denied that she is subservient to Gove, whereas Morgan herself has rejected Gove's attitude to the educational establishment, which he had described as "a left wing blob".

Nicky Morgan told The Observer that although Gove's combative style alienated teachers, she fully supports his key policies: the introduction of free schools and the expansion of academies.

Nicky Morgan needed more radical policies to get schools to develop pupils who were "rounded, resilient citizens" but her "probable departure at the election" meant she was unlikely to make any sort of mark.

In 2016 and 2019, Nicky Morgan supported Gove for leadership of the Conservative Party.

Nicky Morgan appealed to the fee-paying schools to return to conventional GCSEs.

In January 2014, speaking at a meeting of the Bright Blue Conservative think tank, Nicky Morgan said Conservatives would have to send out an optimistic message and not just "the language of hate" if they were to win the next general election.

Nicky Morgan's comments were thought to show concern at right-wing backbenchers' criticisms of Cameron on immigration, welfare, and the EU, although a party source insisted that she was talking about very few people.

In December 2015, Nicky Morgan declared that a High Court ruling that religious teaching should be pluralistic, and that therefore it was unlawful to exclude teaching about atheism and humanism, should be ignored as UK religious traditions are mainly Christian.

In March 2016, Nicky Morgan told a NASUWT conference that the government had made significant improvements to the education system and would not back down.

Nicky Morgan said the vote had split the country and parliament could not spend the next few years on the single issue of Europe.

Nicky Morgan wanted a grown up debate on immigration, which included the positive case and not simply problems relating to jobs and housing and criticised Nigel Farage's campaign for "emboldening" racists and bigots.

In spite of her stance for Remain in the referendum, Nicky Morgan endorsed Leave campaigner Michael Gove as the party leadership candidate on 30 June 2016.

Nicky Morgan said that she would feel concerned about how she would justify such expense to constituents in Loughborough Market.

Nicky Morgan was disinvited from a meeting about Brexit at Number 10.

Nicky Morgan was replaced by a handbag, referring to an equally expensive handbag she owned.

In December 2017, Nicky Morgan voted along with fellow Conservative Dominic Grieve and nine other Conservative MPs against the government, and in favour of guaranteeing Parliament a "meaningful vote" on any deal Theresa May agrees with Brussels over Brexit.

In May 2018, Nicky Morgan joined Nick Clegg and David Miliband calling for a soft Brexit.

Nicky Morgan opposed delays until October 2019 in stake reduction for fixed odds betting terminals; she cited Tracey Crouch that two people commit suicide daily through gambling addiction.

Nicky Morgan commented that such a suspension 'would lead to a constitutional crisis' and that it was 'clearly a mad suggestion'.

Nicky Morgan joined Boris Johnson's government as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in July 2019.

Nicky Morgan was understood to be under Boris Johnson's considerations for the position of Chairman of the BBC in August 2020.

In May 2021, alongside celebrities and other public figures, Nicky Morgan was a signatory to an open letter from Stylist magazine which called on the government to address what it described as an "epidemic of male violence" by funding an "ongoing, high-profile, expert-informed awareness campaign on men's violence against women and girls".

Nicky Morgan is married to Jonathan Morgan, an architect and former leader of Charnwood Borough Council.

Nicky Morgan's husband is the former Conservative Borough Councillor for Loughborough Outwoods Ward and current County Councillor for Loughborough South West.

Nicky Morgan is a Christian and has been a churchwarden of All Saints Church, Loughborough, since 2023.