Graeme Morrice (born 23 February 1959) is a

Scottish Labour Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party (UK), Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and Unionism in the United Kingdom, unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Sco ...

politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Livingston Livingston or Livingstonemay refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North Am ...

from 2010 to 2015. Prior to his election to Parliament, he served as the Leader of

West Lothian Council West Lothian Council is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority for West Lothian, West Lothian council area. History West Lothian District Council Local government across Scotland was reorganised in 1975 under the Local ...

from 1995 to 2007.

Early life and education

Edinburgh-born Morrice was educated at the Mauldeth Road Primary School,

Parrs Wood High School Parrs Wood High School is a coeducational secondary school in East Didsbury, Manchester, England, located off Wilmslow Road behind Parrs Wood Entertainment Complex. It educates pupils from the age of 11 to 18 years. A-Levels are taught at the P ...

and

Broxburn Academy Broxburn Academy is a secondary school in Broxburn, West Lothian, Scotland. Notable alumni *Hannah Bardell – Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party hol ...

. He is an alumnus of

Edinburgh Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

, where he was awarded a SHND in Business Studies.

Political career

First elected to

in 1987, Morrice led the council's Labour group from 1992 to 2010. He became leader of the council following the 1995 local elections, when Labour gained control from the SNP, and held the position until the party lost control in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. In June 2009, the incumbent

Labour MP

Jim Devine James Devine (born 21 May 1953) is a former Labour Party politician in Scotland. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Livingston from 2005 until 2010 and chairman of the Scottish Labour Party between 1994 and 1995. On 16 June 2009, fol ...

was barred by the party from standing for re-election due to his behaviour in the expenses scandal. Morrice was subsequently selected as Labour's candidate for the 2010 election, and comfortably elected with a majority of 22.6%. Morrice was the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to

John Denham John Denham may refer to: * John Denham (died 1556 or later), English MP for Shaftesbury * John Denham (judge), (1559–1639), father of the poet below, and one of the Ship Money judges * John Denham (poet) (1615–1669), English poet * John Denh ...

from 2010 to 2011, then

Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade (shadow), shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section (geometry), cros ...

, and became the PPS to

Margaret Curran Margaret Patricia Curran, Baroness Curran (born 24 November 1958), is a Scottish Labour Party politician. She served in the House of Commons as the member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East from 2010 and 2015, and was Shadow Secretary of S ...

following her appointment as the

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland The shadow secretary of state for Scotland is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Scotland, secretary of state for Scotland and his/he ...

. From January 2013 to May 2015, he held a further post as PPS to

Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman, Baroness Harman, (born 30 July 1950), is a British politician and solicitor who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Chair of the Labour Party (UK), Chair of the Labour Pa ...

, who at that time was both Shadow Deputy Prime Minister and

Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport The shadow secretary of state for culture, media and sport (DCMS), previously the shadow secretary of state for national heritage and shadow secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, is a position in the Official Opposition Shad ...

. He was previously a member of the

Scottish Affairs Select Committee The Scottish Affairs Select Committee is a Select committee (United Kingdom), select committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the ...

. Morrice stood for re-election at the 2015 General Election, but lost the formerly safe seat to the SNP's

Hannah Bardell Hannah Mary Kennedy-Bardell (born 1 June 1983) is a Scottish politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Livingston from 2015 until 2024. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she served as its spokesperson for Digital, Cu ...

with a swing of 25.9 towards the party.

References

External links

Official Website
* Living people Scottish Labour MPs UK MPs 2010–2015 Scottish Labour councillors Politics of West Lothian Politicians from Edinburgh Alumni of Edinburgh Napier University People from Broxburn, West Lothian 1959 births People educated at Parrs Wood High School {{Scotland-Labour-UK-MP-stub