Bill Morris was General Secretary when Tony Blair became Prime Minister, working side-by-side (and sometimes on opposite sides) with him, with the Chancellor - Gordon Brown, and other Ministers on issues like the minimum wage, the Euro and the fuel crisis. He was in the chair as President of the TUC on September 11 2001 when, with the Prime Minister seated alongside him, the news came through that two aircraft had flown into New York's Twin Towers.

Prior to the General Election in 1997, Bill was elected Joint Chair with Tony Blair of the Labour Party/Trade Union Liaison Committee, a post he held until retirement and during a period when the Labour Party won two successive General Elections.  He is a former Chair of the Labour Party Conference Arrangements Committee.

During his time as General Secretary of the Union, he campaigned on a diverse range of issues, believing there were few issues which did not affect the lives of his members. When he saw inequality, unfairness, suffering he would seek out the problems to see whether there was anything he and the union could do to improve the situation.  And so he campaigned on issues relating to employment, health, education, pensions, discrimination, housing and much more, and he has continued to do so into retirement.

When the Labour Home Secretary introduced vouchers for asylum seekers which they could exchange for food and other essentials, Bill Morris led a consortium of charities and pressure groups (including the T&G, Refugee Council, BMA, Oxfam and Family Welfare Association) in a successful campaign to get them scrapped.

A quiet moment with Chancellor Gorden Brown.

He took his seat in the House of Lords in 2006 as Lord Morris of Handsworth and has since played an active role in the House, taking the Labour whip.

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