John Healey (born 13 February 1960) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Defence since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough, formerly Wentworth and Wentworth and Dearne respectively, since 1997.

Healey served under Tony Blair as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Adult Skills from 1997 to 2001, as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2002 to 2005, Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 2005 to 2007, and under Gordon Brown as Minister of State for Local Government from 2007 to 2009 and as Minister of State for Housing and Planning from 2009 to 2010.

Following the 2010 general election, he was elected to the Shadow Cabinet and was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Health by Ed Miliband. He stood down from the role in October 2011 and was succeeded by Andy Burnham. He also served as Shadow Secretary of State for Housing from 2016 to 2020 under Jeremy Corbyn, and worked alongside Andrew Gwynne, the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Early life and career
Parliamentary career
Personal life
See also

Early life and career

John Healey was born on 13 February 1960 in Wakefield, the son of Aidan Healey OBE. He was educated at the Lady Lumley's School in Pickering before attending the independent St Peter's School, York for sixth form. He studied Social and Political Science at Christ's College, Cambridge where he received a BA in 1982.

Healey worked as a journalist and the deputy editor of The House, the internal magazine of the Palace of Westminster, for a year in 1983. In 1984 he became a full-time disability rights campaigner for several national charities.

Healey joined Issues Communications in 1990 as a campaign manager before becoming the head of communications at the Manufacturing, Science and Finance trade union in 1992. He was appointed as the campaign director with the Trades Union Congress in 1994 in which capacity he remained until his election to the House of Commons. He was also a tutor at the Open University Business School.

Parliamentary career

Healey's first attempt to enter Parliament was as candidate for Ryedale at the 1992 general election, where he finished in third with 13.8% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP John Greenway and the Liberal Democrat Elizabeth Shields.

In government (1997-2010)

At the 1997 general election, Healey was the Labour Party candidate for Wentworth, which had become available following the retirement of the Labour MP Peter Hardy. Healey was elected to Parliament with 72.3% of the vote and a majority of 23,959.

Healey served as a member of the education and employment select committee from 1997 until he became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown in 1999.

At the 2001 general election, Healey was re-elected as MP for Wentworth with a decreased vote share of 67.5% and a decreased majority of 16,449. Following the election, he was appointed as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Adult Skills at the Department for Education and Skills.

At the 2005 general election Healey was again re-elected with a decreased vote share of 59.6% and a decreased majority of 15,056.

On 29 June 2007, Healey was moved to the Department for Communities and Local Government as a result of a government reshuffle. Shortly after his appointment he assumed responsibility for assisting the recovery from widespread flooding across the United Kingdom.

In a Cabinet reshuffle on 5 June 2009, he was appointed Minister of State for Housing and Planning, replacing Margaret Beckett who had resigned. While Minister of State for Housing and Planning, he was criticised for suggesting that more people renting properties rather than buying their own homes was a good thing.

In opposition (2010-2024)

At the 2010 general election Healey was elected to Parliament as the MP for the newly created constituency of Wentworth and Dearne with 50.6% of the vote and a majority of 13,920.

Healey came second in the election for the shadow cabinet in 2010, and was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Health. He resigned from this position in 2011 in order to spend more time with his family.

At the 2015 general election Healey was re-elected as MP for Wentworth and Dearne with an increased vote share of 56.3% and a decreased majority of 13,838.

Following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader, Healey was appointed Shadow Minister for Housing. He supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election. Following the leadership election, Healey was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Housing in October 2016.

At the snap 2017 general election Healey was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 65% and an increased majority of 14,803. He was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 40.3% and a decreased majority of 2,165.

Shadow cabinet

Following the election of Keir Starmer as leader of the Labour party, Healey was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Defence in 2020.

As Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, Healey has repeatedly stressed his support for Ukraine. In May 2024, Healey visited Kyiv along with Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy and met the head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. In a joint statement, Healey and Lammy stated: "The next Labour government's commitment to Ukraine will be ironclad, and European security will be our first foreign and defence priority."

Healey has argued in favour of higher spending on the British military with a larger armed force, closer co-operation and leadership with NATO and European nations over security and defence matters, and for a "comprehensive UK-Germany defence and security pact". Healey has said that NATO will need to do more "heavy-lifting' in Europe, as the winner of the 2024 US Presidential Election is likely to prioritise the threat of China.

In April 2024, Healey committed to raising Britain's defence spending to 2.5% of Britain's GDP by 2030 and commissioning a strategic review of the threats to Britain and its capabilities.

Healey voted in favour of British participation in the 2003 Iraq War. In 2024, he said that the decision to go to war "wasn't sound at the time" and said the lesson was that military intervention could not have a successful outcome without sufficient diplomatic, economic, and security follow-through.

Secretary of State for Defence (2024–present)

Healey with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, February 2025

After Labour's victory in the 2024 general election, Healey returned to government and was appointed Secretary of State for Defence by Starmer on 5 July.

In October 2024, Healey signed the landmark Trinity House Agreement with Germany, marking a new era of defence cooperation between the two nations. To modernize the UK’s defence forces, Healey announced in November 2024 the decommissioning of outdated military assets, including five warships and 70 military aircraft. The £500 million cost-saving measure is intended to redirect funds towards advanced weaponry and capabilities. Healey launched a new Defence Industrial Strategy in December 2024 with the intent of prioritising investment in UK-based defence firms, aiming to stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and enhance national security by fostering innovation and resilience within the sector. In a move to rectify past financial inefficiencies, the UK government, under Healey's direction, reacquired approximately 36,000 military housing properties for £6 billion in January 2025. This decision is projected to save £230 million annually in rent.

Personal life

Healey married Jackie Bate on 25 October 1993 in Lambeth and they have one son.

John Healey facts for kids

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