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Morrison was the son of a police officer and was born in Lambeth, London. He lost the sight in his right eye at an early age. Morrison, like many early Labour leaders, had little in the way of formal education and left school at fourteen to become an errand boy. Morrison's early politics were radical, and he briefly flirted with The Social Democratic Federation over The Independent Labour Party (ILP). However, Morrison eventually returned to the fold and became a pioneer leader in the London Labour Party.

Morrison was elected to the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney in 1919 when the Labour Party won control of the Borough. He was Mayor from 1920-21. Morrison was also elected to the London County Council (LCC) in 1922 and the following year he became MP for South Hackney in the 1923 General Election, but lost that seat the following year when Ramsay MacDonald's first administration lost the general election.

Morrison returned to Parliament in the 1929 general election, and MacDonald appointed him Minister of Transport. Morrison, like many others in the party, was deeply disheartened by MacDonald's national government. Morrison lost his seat again in 1931.

Morrison continued to sit on the London County Council and in 1933Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s Years: 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 See also 1933 in aviation 1933 in film 1933 in literature 1933 in mu was elected to lead the Labour Group. Unexpectedly, Labour won the 1934Events January-April January 1 Alcatraz becomes a federal prison. January 7 First Flash Gordon comic strip is published. January 10 Execution of Marinus van der Lubbe January 24 Einstein visits White House January 26 The Apollo Theater opens in Harlem, Ne LCC election and Morrison became Leader of the Council. This gave him control of almost all local government services in London. Morrison's main achievements in London included the unification of the transportFounded in 1933 by an act of Parliament under Transport Minister Herbert Stanley Morrison, The London Passenger Transport Board generally known London Transport was "A public authority appointed under act of Parliament, charged with responsibility for pro system and creating a 'green belt' around the suburbs. He confronted the Government over its refusal to finance the replacement of Waterloo BridgeWaterloo Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The first bridge on the site was designed by John Rennie and opened in 1817 as a toll bridge. Before its opening it was, and eventually they agreed to pay 60% of the cost of the new bridge.

In the 1935Events January January 1 Italian colonies of Tripoli and Kyrenaika are joined together as Libya January 7 World War II: Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French foreign minister Pierre Laval conclude agreement in which each power undertakes not to oppo election Morrison was once again elected to the House of CommonsThe House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also includes the Sovereign and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 659 members, who are known as "Members of Parliamen and immediately challenged Clement AttleeClement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee KG, OM, CH, FRS ( January 3, 1883 October 8, 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. He was the first Labour Party Prime Minister to serve a full term as Prime Minister. Introduction Born i for the leadership of the party. He lost badly, a defeat ascribed to his unfamiliarity with the MPs who had served in the previous Parliament. Morrison concentrated on his LCC work.

In 1940 Morrison was appointed as first Minister of SupplyThe Minister of Supply was a position in the British Government which existed to co-ordinate the supplying of equipment to the armed forces. The position was campaigned for by many sceptics of the foreign policy of the National Government in the 1930s bef by Winston Churchill, but shortly afterwards succeeded Sir John Anderson as Home Secretary. Morrison's London experience in local government was particularly useful during the Blitz. A design of indoor air-raid shelter was named after him. However, Morrison had to take many potentially unpopular and controversial decisions by the nature of wartime circumstance.

After the end of the war, Morrison was instrumental in drafting the Labour Party's 1945 manifesto Let us Face the Future. He was the organiser of the general election campaign. Labour won a massive and unexpected victory. Morrison was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons. After Ernest Bevin's resignation as Foreign Secretary, Morrison took over his role, but did not feel at ease in the Foreign Office. His tenure there was cut short by Labour's defeat in the 1951 general election.

Although Morrison had effectively been Attlee's heir apparent since the 1930's, Attlee had always distrusted him. Attlee remained as Leader through the early 1950s, and fought the 1955 election, finally announcing his retirement after Labour's defeat. Morrison was 67 and was seen to be too old to embark on a new leadership. Although he stood, he finished bottom of the three candidates and Hugh Gaitskell won the election.

Morrison stood down at the 1959 general election and was made a life peer as Baron Morrison of Lambeth. He was appointed President of the British Board of Film Censors. He died in 1965, symbolically in the same month as the London County Council was abolished.