Dover District Council Elects New Leader

Cllr Keith Morris has been elected as the new Leader of Dover District Council.  A ward councillor for St Margaret’s-at-Cliffe, Cllr Morris was first elected to the Council in 2011 and has been a Cabinet Member since 2015.

Cllr Morris hails from Northumberland and began his working life in the army spending nine years in bomb disposal, followed by a short spell with the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

He joined the Civil Service beginning in a local Job Centre and moving eventually to Whitehall where he worked in a number of policy jobs mainly in the employment and education departments.  He has spent the last 20 years working in the charity sector at a local, regional and national level.

Outside of work Keith has, among other things, been the treasurer at a children’s nursery, a school governor, a trustee of the Dover and Deal Volunteer Centre and spent eight years as a governor of the then Thanet College, now East Kent College.  He has an MBA from Durham University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors.  He is a keen supporter of Newcastle United.

Cllr Morris lives in the ward he represents, St Margaret’s, with his wife. They have two sons.

Cllr Keith Morris, said: “It’s an honour to be leading the Council at such an exciting time with new investment and jobs across the district.  I look forward to working with the community to build on this success to ensure that alongside the physical regeneration we’re now seeing, we deliver a step change in opportunities for all.”