Information AboutBill Morris |
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Bill Morris was born in Manchester , Jamaica . After the death of his father, William, a part-time policeman, his mother, Una, went to England to find work and settled in Handsworth , Birmingham . Bill joined her in the UK in 1954 , finding work at a local car parts manufacturer, Hardy Spicer Engineering Ltd. Morris married Minetta in 1957 . She died in 1990 . They have two sons. Morris joined the Transport and General Workers' Union in 1958 , and became a Shop Steward in 1962 . After serving on the TGWU General Executive Council (GEC) from 1972 to 1973 , Bill Morris joined the union as a full-time official. He served as district officer of the Nottingham District from 1973 to 1976 and district secretary of the Northampton District from 1976 to 1979 . In 1979 , he became national secretary of the Passenger Services Trade Group, which was responsible for staff working for bus and coach companies. He was elected deputy general secretary in 1986 , serving under general secretary Ron Todd . Morris was elected general secretary when Ron Todd retired in 1992 . He was re-elected in 1995 , ahead of Jack Dromey . He served until his own retirement on his 65th birthday, 19 October 2003 , when he was succeeded as general secretary by Tony Woodley , who again beat Jack Dromey . During his time as general secretary, Morris was generally regarded as a moderate and did not have a good relationship with the more radical elements of his union. He was also known as a supporter of Prime Minister Tony Blair , although the relationship cooled towards the end of Morris's tenure. Morris was a member of the TUC General Council and Executive Committee from 1988 to 2003 . He was appointed a Non-executive Director of the Bank Of England in 1998 . He was also a member of the Royal Commission On The Reform Of The House Of Lords from 1999 to 2000 . He is a member of the Board of Governors of South Bank University , a Trustee of the Open University Foundation, and the member of the Courts of Northampton University and Luton University . He was appointed as the first Chancellor of the University Of Technology, Jamaica in 1999 and as Chancellor of Staffordshire University in 2004. He has been a member of the the advisory councils of the BBC and IBA and a Commissioner of the Commission For Racial Equality . He chaired the Morris Inquiry into professional standards in the Metropolitan Police in 2004. He sits as a member of the Employment Appeals Tribunal . Morris was awarded the Order Of Jamaica in 2002 and received a Knighthood in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours List . On April 11 , 2006 , it was announced that Morris would take a seat in the House Of Lords as a working Life Peer . {Link without Title} EXTERNAL LINKS |
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