Helen Morgan

Helen Morgan      (chartered accountant, politician)
Born	Helen Margaret Lilian Halcrow 1975
Alma mater	Trinity College (Cambridge)
Party	Lib Dems
Member of Parliament for North Shropshire In office 16 December 2021 - Present  Financial Controller In office September 2015 - Present Employer Grocott Developments  Head of Margin Forecasting In office March 2007 - November 2008 Employer British Gas  Head of Financial Reporting In office June 2003 - March 2007 Employer Centrica  Audit Manager In office September 1996 - November 2002 Employer KPMG

Helen Morgan is a Cambridge-educated chartered accountant and LibDem local councillor who was elected as Member of Parliament for North Shropshire at a by-election on 16 December 2021.

Helen Morgan established a near-6,000 majority, overturning the 23,000 won by her predecessor Owen Paterson for the Tories in 2019, in the by-election triggered by his resignation over a lobbying scandal. She secured 17,957 votes – 5,925 more than Conservative candidate Neil Shastri-Hurst while Labour's Ben Wood finished a distant third with 3,686 votes.

Victory speech

In her victory speech, Helen Morgan MP said:

"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.

"Our country is crying out for leadership – Mr Johnson, you are no leader.

"Many of your predecessors took office because they believed in a sense of national service.

"That they were duty bound to do what they believed is right for our country.

"To represent all of us, even if we disagreed with them.

"Mr Johnson, this is not how we operate and too often it is about you and not about us.

“Instead of taking action to help Shropshire’s NHS, you spend your time seeking questionable donations to refurbish your flat.

“Instead of taking action to support Shropshire’s farmers, you spend your time misleading the nation on how you and your office partied during lockdown. Tonight the people of North Shropshire have said enough is enough.

“They have said that you are unfit to lead and that they want a change."

Sensational result

On 17 December 2021, BBC Newsnight's Lewis Goodall tweeted:

Let's not understate this – the Lib Dems did sensationally well. They didn't just win it, they won it handily. They came from *third* with 10% of the vote in 2019 and got nearly half yesterday. Cons conversely did really badly, losing half their share.

In detail

Bookies' favourite

On 13 December 2021, The Guardian reported:

Bookmakers have made the Liberal Democrats the favourites to win this week’s North Shropshire by-election, odds that if reflected in Thursday’s vote would deliver a significant fresh blow to Boris Johnson’s authority.

LibDem campaigners stress that the result is hard to predict, given variables such as turnout and the number of Labour and Green supporters who decide to vote tactically.

But the party says it is “neck and neck” in the usually ultra-safe Conservative seat, which was held by Owen Paterson in the 2019 election with a near-23,000 majority and has been Tory for all but two of the last 190 years.

Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dems’ deputy leader, who spent the weekend campaigning in North Shropshire, said support for the Conservatives there “has collapsed”.

She said: “We are now neck and neck with the Conservatives and our campaigners are flooding into the constituency from across the country.

“As we enter the final few days of the campaign, the crucial question is: will enough Labour and Green voters vote tactically for the Lib Dems? If they do, this could help deliver a knockout blow to Boris Johnson.”

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