Julie Morgan (née Edwards; 2 November 1944) is a Welsh Labour Party politician, who was a Member of the Senedd for Cardiff North seat in the Senedd from the 2011 election until 2026. She was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff North from 1997 until 2010.

She was married to former First Minister of Wales Rhodri Morgan until his death in 2017.

Early life, education and career

Julie Edwards was born in Cardiff in 1944. She was educated at Dinas Powys Primary School and Howell's School Llandaff. She then attended King's College London where she graduated with a BA in English in 1965. Just as her first term at university was about to begin, a general election was called, and she returned to Cardiff to campaign for Jim Callaghan in the seat which was then Cardiff South East.

Despite Callaghan's protestations that she should go back to university, she campaigned for his victory alongside Neil Kinnock (the future leader of the Labour party), Glenys Kinnock and Rhodri Morgan, whom she would marry in 1967. Following her undergraduate degree, Morgan studied at the University of Manchester. She also holds a postgraduate diploma in Social Administration from University College, Cardiff.

Before becoming a Member of Parliament, Morgan was a social worker with Barry Social Services, and served as an assistant director of Barnardo's. and Public Administration Select Committees.

Between 16 December 2009 and 12 March 2010, she steered the Sunbeds (Regulation) Bill (a private members' bill) through the House of Commons. The bill passed to the House of Lords for consideration.

In the 2010 election, Morgan polled 17,666 votes to Conservative Jonathan Evans' 17,860 votes, losing by 194 votes. Evans had previously been an MP between 1992 and 1997.

Senedd

Morgan was elected to the seat of Cardiff North in the Senedd, in the 2011 election. She was re-elected in 2016, and again in 2021.

In 2016, she unsuccessfully stood for chair of the Senedd's Children, Young People and Education Committee.

Morgan stood for deputy leader in the 2018 Welsh Labour deputy leadership election, ultimately losing to Carolyn Harris despite winning more members' votes. Later that year, she supported Mark Drakeford in his leadership election. Following Drakeford's appointment as First Minister, she was appointed Deputy Minister for Health and Social Services in the Welsh Government.

Morgan stood down from the Senedd at the 2026 election.

Views

During her second term, she opposed variable tuition fees for university students, citing fears that it would open up a market in higher education. She also opposed the war in Iraq and led a demonstration of "Labour Women Against War" in Cardiff city centre. Nevertheless, her voting record is supportive of the Labour Government, until it proposes a measure she cannot reconcile with her fundamental beliefs—such as the equal treatment of children, for instance in the asylum system, or in respect of protection from violence.

Morgan has been involved in the field of women's rights (having heavily promoted the introduction of all-women shortlists for political parties), as well as the welfare of children, black and minority ethnic and disabled people. She was one of the founders of the Purple Plaques scheme of public markers for remarkable women who lived in Wales. She is the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Children in Wales and is a member of numerous other APPGs, including those on Sex Equality and Compassion in Dying. Within the Parliamentary Labour Party, she is an active member of the Women's Group.

As her husband was, she is a Distinguished Supporter of Humanists UK. She supports lowering the voting age to 16 and to that end has presented a bill to Parliament.

References

  • Julie Morgan MP Welsh Labour Party profile