Timeline for Joe Morris
#8 12 May
Resigned as PPS on 11 May
UK Local Elections 2026: Eight resign in two days on StarmerBackground
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.
Common 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
How the World Sees Them
Rhun ap Iorwerth / Welsh Government (Plaid Cymru)
the outcomes it delivers
Michael Marra / Scottish Labour
Scots know what we are against. They can't tell you what we are for.
Andy Burnham / Labour Party
contest the next election with a manifesto commitment to change the electoral system so that everyone's vote counts and everyone's voice is heard
Reform UK
fully cooperate with the investigation
Steff Aquarone / Liberal Democrats (North Norfolk)
made to waste £600,000
Stephen Atkinson / Lancashire County Council (Reform UK)
the opportunity to challenge the July decision
Jim McMahon / Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
following updated legal advice
Democratic Unionist Party
goaded
Rupert Lowe / Restore Britain
Reform-sponsored media circus