Peter Morrison

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people named Peter Morrison, see Peter Morrison (disambiguation).

John Temple
Succeeded byGyles Brandreth
Personal details
Born2 June 1944
Fonthill Bishop, England
Died13 July 1995(1995-07-13) (aged 51)
London, England
Political partyConservative
Parent
Relatives
Alma materKeble College, Oxford

Sir Peter Hugh Morrison (2 June 1944 – 13 July 1995) was a British Conservative politician, MP for Chester from 1974 to 1992, and Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Background and education

Morrison born in Fonthill Bishop, Wiltshire, the third son of John Morrison, 1st Baron Margadale, by the Honourable Margaret Smith, the daughter of Frederick Smith, 2nd Viscount Hambleden, and Lady Esther Gore.[1] James Morrison, 2nd Baron Margadale, and Sir Charles Morrison, Conservative MP for Devizes from 1964 to 1992, were his elder brothers.[1] He was educated at Eton and Keble College, Oxford, where he read Law.[1]

Political career

Morrison was first elected to the House of Commons in the

Department of Employment.[1] In 1987, he was Minister of State for Energy,[2] with responsibility for oil.[3]
It was while he was based in Chester that he became good friends with former leader of the Welsh Conservatives Nick Bourne.[4]

During this period it was alleged that Morrison joined the small group of MPs, who included

Ian Greer Associates admitted Morrison received payments after ceasing to be an MP. The Parliamentary Report in Hansard quotes Ian Greer as stating he made "Two commission payments, perhaps three, for client referrals" to Morrison between 1993 and 1994.[6]

In 1990, Morrison became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher; he was the leader of her campaign team in the Conservative leadership election in the same year.[citation needed] He was relaxed about Thatcher's prospects and predicted an easy win for her. Alan Clark went to visit him one afternoon during the campaign and found him asleep in his office. Morrison claimed that he had assurances from enough MPs that they were Thatcher supporters to be certain she would win.[citation needed]

After the first ballot of Conservative MPs had shown that Thatcher did not have enough votes to win outright, Morrison suggested to her that she should consult the Cabinet one-by-one to gauge support. He said to her: "Prime Minister, if you haven't won then there are a lot of Tory MPs who are lying".[7] He stood down at the 1992 general election, being succeeded as MP for Chester by Gyles Brandreth.

Morrison was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in February 1991.[8] He died of a heart attack early in the morning of 13 July 1995, aged 51.

Homosexuality

According to the journalist

Michael Brown, another associate of Greer and himself gay, described Morrison as gay in a column published by The Independent in 2002.[10]

Allegations of child abuse

There were no very precise allegations, but suggestions that Morrison might have attended gay parties and engaged in casual pick-ups ... Morrison was asked by whips about the accusations and always categorically denied them ...

Robin Butler recalled that, in his time as Mrs Thatcher's private secretary, which ended in 1985, no accusations came up about Morrison. When Butler became Cabinet secretary in 1987, however, allegations did surface. They were about homosexuality, and therefore the possibility of being compromised by Soviet agents, rather than about child abuse.[11]

— Margaret Thatcher's biographer
Charles Moore
on the allegations

In October 2012, Rod Richards, a former MP and ex-leader of the Welsh Conservatives, implicated Morrison in the North Wales child abuse scandal.[12]

Between 1974 and 1990, up to 650 children from forty children's homes (such as

Bryn Estyn in Wrexham) were sexually, physically and emotionally abused. Richards said that Morrison and another high-profile Conservative politician were named in documents as regular and unexplained visitors to the care homes.[citation needed
]

Investigative journalist Nick Davies reported in The Guardian that Morrison received a caution for cottaging with underage boys in public lavatories.[13]

Former Conservative minister Edwina Currie stated that Morrison regularly had sex with 16-year-old boys at a time when the legal age of consent for same-sex relations was 21.[14] In 2002, Currie wrote in her autobiography that "he's what they call 'a noted pederast', with a liking for young boys; he admitted as much ... when he became deputy chairman of the party but added, 'However, I'm very discreet' — and he must be!"[14]

Gyles Brandreth, Morrison's successor as MP for Chester, said that he was told by multiple constituents that Morrison was "a disgusting pervert" and a "monster".[15]

In July 2014, Barry Strevens, a former bodyguard to Margaret Thatcher, claimed that he warned her that Morrison allegedly held sex parties with underage boys.

Archie Hamilton, reportedly took notes of what was said.[16] Strevens reflected: "I am sure [Hamilton] would have given her assurances about the rumours, as otherwise she wouldn't have given him the job."[16]

In January 2015,

Elm Guest House in London. The alleged victim said he was walking in the village of Harting in West Sussex in 1982, when Morrison gave him some money and later lured him to London.[17]

In 2019, Morrison was investigated by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), with evidence from Eliza Manningham-Buller (a former director general of MI5), who had been friendly with Morrison for a time. Manningham-Buller said that she may have provided the cabinet secretary with information including the comment that Morrison had a "penchant for small boys".[18] In February 2020, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse claimed senior officials within the Conservative Party knew about allegations concerning Morrison for years but did not pass them on to police.[19]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Cosgrave, Peter (15 July 1995). "Obituary: Sir Peter Morrison". The Independent. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  2. ^ "Department of Energy (1974–1992), Ministers as at 26 June 1987". Archived from the original on 4 December 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  3. ^ Glasgow Herald, 26 April 1989.
  4. ^ "Bourne denies aspirationsfor election to Parliament". walesonline. 15 October 2003.
  5. ^ Stephen Castle, "Rise and fall of the greed generation's lobbyist", independent.co.uk, 6 October 1996.
  6. ^ House of Commons Select Committee on Standards and Privileges First Report 1996, publications.parliament.uk; accessed 7 September 2016.
  7. ^ "The ghastly process has begun". BBC News. 9 July 2001. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
  8. ^ The London Gazette, 28 May 1991, p. 8208
  9. ^ Simon Heffer (4 August 2002). "Homophobia has never been the Tories' problem". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
  10. ^ "Shock news: there are gay MPs in the Tory party". The Independent. 30 July 2002. Archived from the original on 6 December 2009.
  11. ISBN 978-0-241-20126-8
    .
  12. ^ Patrick Sawer and Jason Lewis "Senior Tories accused over child abuse", The Daily Telegraph, 3 November 2012.
  13. ^ "The sheer scale of child sexual abuse in Britain". Reprinted from The Guardian (April 1998) on www.nickdavies.net. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  14. ^
    Sunday Times. London, UK. Archived from the original
    on 14 July 2014.
  15. ^ Holmes, David (13 March 2019). "Ex-Chester MP Gyles Brandreth was told his predecessor was 'a disgusting pervert'". Cheshire Live. Reach plc. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  16. ^
    The Independent on Sunday. London, UK. Archived
    from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  17. ^ Gardner, Bill (5 January 2015). "Murder link to Margaret Thatcher aide accused of raping teenage boy". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK.
  18. ^ Owen Bowcott (12 March 2019). "Ex-MI5 chief avoided minister's funeral after child abuse claims". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  19. ^ Giordano, Chiara (25 February 2020). "Westminster child sex abuse: Senior police and politicians knew about widespread paedophilia but 'turned a blind eye to it', inquiry finds". Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2020.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for the City of Chester
Feb 1974 – 1992 		Succeeded by
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