James Morris was elected as the Conservative MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis in May 2010 and was voted onto the Communities and Local Government Select Committee shortly afterwards. Before becoming involved in politics he was Chief Executive of Localis, a local government and localist think tank, and also had a successful career as a small businessman specialising in computer software. In 2003 he founded Mind the Gap, an independent campaign to promote civic action and encourage grass roots involvement in politics. In 2004 he wrote a pamphlet entitled - Change Starts Small - which explored how to get more local grass roots involvement in politics and argued that the British political system needed fundamental change.