JM
PersonGB
Joe Morris
Labour MP for Hexham; resigned as PPS on 11 May 2026 as Starmer resignations wave began.
Last refreshed: 14 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Joe Morris
#812 May
Resigned as PPS on 11 May
UK Local Elections 2026: Eight resign in two days on StarmerCommon Questions
Who is Joe Morris MP?
Joe Morris is the Labour MP for Hexham, Northumberland, elected in 2024. He resigned as a parliamentary private secretary on 11 May 2026 during the Starmer leadership crisis.Source: Parliament
Background
Joe Morris is the Labour MP for Hexham in Northumberland, a seat the party won for the first time in 2024. On 11 May 2026 he resigned as a parliamentary private secretary, one of four PPS departures that day that signalled the start of Labour's government crisis over Keir Starmer's leadership following the May local elections. Hexham had been a SAFE Conservative seat for generations; Morris holding it while resigning over leadership direction underlines the regional breadth of the internal dissent.
How the World Sees Them
Local Government Association
significant risks to statutory services
Rupert Lowe / Restore Britain
Reform-sponsored media circus
Kemi Badenoch / Conservative Party
fake by-election
Nigel Farage / Reform UK
people versus the establishment
Scottish Government (SNP under John Swinney)
no secret plan
UK Government (MHCLG and Downing Street)
The UK Government does not support independence or another referendum. Our focus must be on delivery, not division.
Welsh Government (Plaid Cymru)
we clearly face an emergency within the NHS in Wales
Russell Findlay (Scottish Conservatives)
I will absolutely not be resigning this weekend.
Rhun ap Iorwerth (Plaid Cymru)
It is the greatest privilege of my life to be elected First Minister in a nation that means so much to me.