Elliot Morley's Privy Council expulsion is first for 90 years

The disgraced former Labour MP Elliot Morley has become the first politician to be expelled from the Privy Council in 90 years. His expulsion was agreed yesterday by the Queen at the suggestion of Nick Clegg, who chairs the Privy Council, an elite group who advise the sovereign. Its members use the title Right Honourable.

Mr Morley was sentenced to 16 months in prison after pleading guilty to fiddling £32,000 worth of MPs' expenses. A statement from Downing Street last night said: "In the Government's view, Mr Morley's conviction is incompatible with continued membership of the Privy Council. His membership has therefore been revoked."

The last person to leave the Privy Council in disgrace was the former Tory Cabinet minister, Jonathan Aitken, who was imprisoned for perjury, but he resigned to avoid expulsion. Other disgraced former ministers such as John Stonehouse and John Profumo also resigned. The last person expelled was Sir Edward Speyer, struck off in 1921 for siding with the Germans in the world war.