SYNOPSIS

Elliot - From Aigburth to Wandsworth 

“From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs” –        Karl Marx

Elliot Morley grew up in Aigburth, Liverpool, which has been home to many notable and at times notorious figures. This includes political activist and actor Ricky Tomlinson, Conservative politician Steven Norris and most notorious of all, Jack the Ripper suspect James Maybrick.

Elliot Cut his teeth in politics through both the National Union of Teachers and then as a Hull City Councillor. After an 8 year career in local government, he was elected as MP for Glanford and Scunthorpe in 1987.

This was a land mark year for Elliot Morley and the Labour movement as he became one of only 10 new Labour MP’s in that particular election.

Margaret Thatcher was in government and was resting on the laurels of defeating not just the Argentines, but also the miners The golden age of Conservatism was about to be born along with the yuppie generation.

Defeating a Tory majority, Elliot Morley won the Glanford and Scunthorpe seat with a slim majority of just 512 votes. This immediately sparked controversy and from his opponent’s team, resulting in a police enquiry being launched into his election expenses.

Elliot worked hard, first in opposition and then later as a member of the cabinet in Tony Blair’s government, enjoying a 9 year career on the front benches. Upon leaving the front bench in 2006, Elliot went on to become a Privy Councillor.

Through out his life Elliot has always been a keen ornithologist and protector of the environment, this was demonstrated in some of the government posts he held, and the accomplishments he made while in them. Elliot’s commitment to the environment went on to lead to his controversial and untimely exit as a government minister in 2006.

The expenses revelations about Elliot Morley came to light on the 13th May 2009.

This revelation came as a more that a shock, it was the political equivalent of a large scale explosion unleashed directly above his constituents. Scunthorpe was on the front page of every news paper, and the name Elliot Morley was on every one’s lips.

Shock and awe were soon replaced by a deep sense of public indignation and indeed resentment as a highly regarded member of the community was seen by many to betray his public, stealing more money from the public purse than many people in Scunthorpe would earn in a year.

Elliot issued a statement to the Daily Telegraph on the 14th May 2009 in which he stated

“I have made a mistake, I apologise for that and I take full responsibility. My priority was to repay and if I suffer financially as a result of that, I have only myself to blame”

Following a protracted battle to avoid prosecution, including appeals to the high court, Elliot Morley took to the stand just 2 weeks before the local elections in 2011 and finally admitted his guilt.

Nearly two years after the allegations were made, having faced public outrage and been portrayed in the media as the face of the expenses scandal, Elliot finally did the right thing. He confessed, and was jailed in Wandsworth Prison.

Like another famous Aigburth resident Ricky Tomlinson, Elliot Morley is now serving time in jail.

Ricky was jailed for his principals and then went on to forge a career built on them. Elliot’s incarceration is based on a breach of public trust and the undermining of his own principals brought on by his own greed.

For Elliot the future is much more uncertain.

“All Animals are equal, but some more equal than others” - George Orwell, Animal Farm