Who is North Shropshire's new MP Helen Morgan?
After Owen Paterson MP resigned amid the Westminster sleaze scandal, Liberal Democrat Helen Morgan has swept to victory in the North Shropshire by-election to fill Paterson's vacated seat.
So, who is the new MP for North Shropshire?
Helen Morgan was born in the West Midlands and attended Trinity College, Cambridge, between 1993 and 1996, where she studied history.
Speaking about her ties to the county, she said: "I moved in 2014 to Shrewsbury. It was a career move for my husband. My mum and dad have also moved here."
The newly-elected MP's Linkedin profile - the social media site geared towards professionals - states that she is an "experienced accountant with a demonstrated history of working in the energy industry. Skilled in financial forecasting, management, financial accounting, and financial analysis". It adds that she is a "strong accounting professional with BA in History from University of Cambridge".
Morgan has held several high-ranking jobs in both the financial and energy sectors.
She spent just over six years in a role as audit manager of KPMG - one of the 'Big Four' multinational accounting firms - almost four years as a financial controller, then head of financial reporting, with multinational energy company Centrica, just under two years as head of margin forecasting with British Gas, and most recently she has spent six years as financial controller of Shropshire company Grocott Developments.
In politics, she entered it initially as a parish councillor, and first stood for Parliament in North Shropshire in 2019.
One of the keystones of her campaign was a commitment to reduce waiting times for services in the county. She has been outspoken in her opposition to the Conservative Government's treatment of refugees, and Boris Johnson's prorogation of Parliament.
Asked what she likes doing away from politics, she said: "I do a lot of walking around the villages and woods. I love the nature side. It's a lovely place to live and I've really made my home here."
Now she prepares to get to work as the county's first Lib Dem MP since Matthew Green represented Ludlow from 2001-2005.
"First I need to get some sleep," she said after a late night at the count and a busy victory parade in Oswestry, "Then on Monday I'm off to Westminster to get set up there. Then I'm going to set to work in the area after the Christmas break."
Her main priorities on a wider scale for North Shropshire, she said, will be fighting for more resources for the health service, and for better trade deals for the farming industry.
She added: "Resources in the health service are a priority, and we've got to start fighting for our agricultural industry."
