Morton then entered the New South Wales Legislative Assembly on 3 May 1947, representing the Electoral district of Mosman for the Liberal Party.

Robson proved ineffective and was deposed in September 1955 in a party spill and Morton was elected to succeed him as Leader of the New South Wales Opposition.

He served in the cabinet, becoming prominent and controversial in his role in the reorganisation of the City of Sydney as Local Government Minister and state planning regulations, until he retired from parliament in June 1972.

[2] Morton was educated at Lismore High School, which he left at the age of 14 to be employed in a law firm, but had a varied career in many different businesses.

Morton soon joined the NSW Branch under party Leader Vernon Treatt and stood for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Mosman at the state election on 3 May 1947.

Under a legalistic interpretation of the ALP rules, Seiffert was readmitted to the party and, together with the support of Geraghty, Premier James McGirr and Labor were able to stay in power.

[11] The resignation split the party and sparked a leadership challenge from Morton, who criticised Treatt's "lack of aggression" towards the Labor Government.

At the official campaign launch on 15 February, Morton began by accusing the Cahill government of losing its way and wasting public funds.

[16] Although the Coalition had failed to win government, an official report from the Liberal Party State Council blamed the defeat on the seat redistribution, the abolition of postal voting and the strong right-wing Labor support for Premier Cahill.

[17] Morton again led the opposition at the 21 March 1959 election, which resulted in an overall gain of three seats but the loss of Sutherland and Parramatta to Labor.

[19] During his time as leader, Morton had refused to give up his various business interests, including as a manager of a motor accessories distributor from 1956 until 1965 and a director of Coventry Tool and Gauge Company in 1958, among others.

[21] Soon after, the two main opponents to Morton, the Member for Earlwood, Eric Willis, and Deputy Leader Askin, declared that they would only take the leadership if they were given an absolute majority of at least 28 votes.

[22] On Morton's downfall, a Sydney Morning Herald editorial summed up his leadership thus: "True, the margin [of the last election] was slender.

In addition to losing the last election, when Labour seemed at its most vulnerable after 18 years of office, Mr Morton further disappointed his colleagues – indeed, antagonised some of them – by expanding his private business interests when he was being urged to concentrate wholly on the job of Leader of the Opposition.

"[20] At the 3 March 1962 election, Askin led the Coalition to another defeat to the Labor Party, now under Bob Heffron, who had become Premier following Cahill's death in October 1959.

[26] As Minister, Morton was involved in the first dismissal of Warringah Shire Council in April 1967 which was triggered by the gaoling of two councillors for bribery.

On its abolition, Morton commented that it was "essential for Sydney's progress" and replaced the City Council with a Commission, headed by his predecessor, Vernon Treatt.

[29] Morton soon gained a reputation as a strong advocate for allowing free enterprise and business to take precedence over planning controls and government regulation.

His time as Minister was marked by increasing strains on state infrastructure and his pro-development stance was largely attributed as an attempt to alleviate these problems.

This eventually culminated in the 1970s Green ban movement led by Unions Leader Jack Mundey, to protect the architectural heritage of Sydney.

At the time of his departure it had been rumoured that he had been threatening to dismiss Blacktown City Council if they did not stop blocking a $200 million development in Mount Druitt.

[30] On 18 July 1972, Queen Elizabeth II granted him retention of the title "The Honourable" for life, for having served as a Minister of the Crown and on the Executive Council of New South Wales.