Joyce Rebekah "Joy" Morrissey (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Inboden; born 30 January 1981) is an American-born British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

since

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. She was a

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second ...

from November 2023 until July 2024. She has been Opposition Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons since November 2024, serving alongside Gagan Mohindra. Morrissey grew up in the United States, moving to the United Kingdom in 2008 to attend the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. Before doing so, in 1999 and 2000, Morrissey undertook humanitarian work in Albania, Kosovo, China, and India, helping refugees, working in an orphanage and teaching English. Before her election to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

she worked at the Centre for Social Justice, as a

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

staffer, and was elected a Councillor in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

Early life and education

Joyce Morrisey was born on 30 January 1981 in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, United States. She attended Worthington Christian High School in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and graduated in 1999. Inboden received a master's degree specialising in European Social Policy from the

. After completing her postgraduate studies, Morrissey attained British citizenship and is now a British-American dual national.

Acting career

In the late 2000s, Morrissey had a brief acting career. Under the name Joy Boden she appeared alongside

Marisa Tomei Marisa Tomei ( , ; born December 4, 1964) is an American actress. She gained prominence for her comedic performance in '' My Cousin Vinny'' (1992), which earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She received further nominations ...

in a TV movie titled ''The Rich Inner Life of Penelope Cloud'', which she also produced, and which her now-husband directed. After becoming a mother, she decided not to return to the film industry, stating that she "actually looked at going back to get (her) PhD in International Development but got involved with the local Ealing Conservatives".

Political career

Morrissey was an elected a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

councillor on Ealing Council, where she represented the ward of Hanger Hill until April 2020. She was a London-wide list candidate at the

2016 London Assembly election The 2016 London Assembly election was an election held on 5 May 2016 to elect the members of the London Assembly. It took place on the same day as the London mayoral election and the United Kingdom local elections. Four parties had AMs in th ...

, but was not elected. At the snap 2017 general election, Morrissey stood as the Conservative candidate in Ealing Central and Acton, coming second with 34.7% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Rupa Huq. In 2018, she sought nomination to be the

London Conservatives The London Conservatives are the regional party of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party that operates in Greater London. Party strength The party's main competition is with the larger London Labour Party for office. The Conservat ...

mayoral candidate for the

2021 London mayoral election The 2021 London mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of London. It was held simultaneously with 2021 London Assembly election, elections for the London Assembly, 2021 United Kingdom local elections, other local elections ...

, making it through to the final three shortlist; Morrissey was ultimately not selected.

Parliamentary career

Morrisey was elected to Parliament as MP for

at the 2019 general election with 56.1% of the vote and a majority of 15,712. In April 2020, Morrissey was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

. She was appointed PPS to the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and

Secretary of State for Justice The secretary of state for justice is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Justice. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Since the office's inception ...

Dominic Raab Dominic Rennie Raab ( ; born 25 February 1974) is a British former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor from September 2021 to September 2022 and again from October 2022 to ...

in October 2020. On 15 December 2021, Morrissey criticised the influence that unelected public health officials were able to exert on public policy during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, arguing that policy decisions should be made by those accountable to the public. In February 2022, she was appointed as a PPS to the Prime Minister, working alongside Lia Nici and James Duddridge. Morrissey endorsed

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth da ...

in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. Morrissey was appointed Assistant Government Whip on 8 July 2022 by the outgoing

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

administration. On 8 September 2022 she was reappointed an Assistant Government Whip as part of the new Government of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, one of very few people to make the transition from the

to the

Truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

administration. On 27 October 2022 Morrissey was reappointed an Assistant Government Whip once again by her third Prime Minister,

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...

. In February 2023, Morrisey was re-selected as the Conservative candidate for Beaconsfield at the 2024 general election. In June 2023, she was one of six Conservative MPs to vote against censuring

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

following the Commons Privileges Committee investigation. In November 2023, Morrissey celebrated the decision by the British government to block the development of a data centre on the site of a former quarry next to the M25. At the 2024 general election, Morrissey was re-elected to Parliament as MP for Beaconsfield with a decreased vote share of 38.8% and a decreased majority of 5,455. She was appointed Shadow Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero and an Opposition whip in the Opposition frontbench of Rishi Sunak July 2024.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Morrissey, Joy 1981 births Living people 21st-century British actresses 21st-century British women politicians Alumni of the London School of Economics American emigrants to England Conservative Party (UK) councillors Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in the London Borough of Ealing Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Politicians from Buckinghamshire People from Indiana Politicians from the London Borough of Ealing UK councillors 2014–2018 UK councillors 2018–2022 UK MPs 2019–2024 Women councillors in England Parliamentary private secretaries to the prime minister UK MPs 2024–present