Junior ministerial offices

Minister of State
2005–2008	Housing and Planning
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
2003–2005	Regeneration and Regional Development
2002–2003	Lord Chancellor's Department
1999–2002	Public Health

Shadow cabinet portfolios

2021–2024	Shadow Home Secretary
2011–2015	Home Secretary
2010–2013	Women and Equalities
2010–2011	Shadow Foreign Secretary
2010–2010	Work and Pensions

Member of Parliament
for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley
Normanton, Pontefract
and Castleford (2010–2024)
Pontefract and Castleford (1997–2010)

Incumbent

Assumed office
1 May 1997

Preceded by

Geoffrey Lofthouse

Majority

6,630 (18.4%)

Personal details

Born

20 March 1969 (age 56)
Inverness, Scotland

Political party

Labour

Spouse

Ed Balls

(m. 1998)

Children

Parent

Tony Cooper (father)

Education

Signature

Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) is a British politician. She has been the Home Secretary since July 2024. She is a member of the Labour Party. Cooper has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley since 1997. Before that, she represented Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford.

She was first elected to Parliament in 1997. Cooper worked as a junior minister in three government departments from 1999 to 2005. In 2005, she became the Minister of State for Housing and Planning. When Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007, she kept this role. In 2008, she joined Brown's top team, called the Cabinet, as Chief Secretary to the Treasury. She was then promoted to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2009.

After Labour lost the 2010 election, Cooper worked in the opposition team, known as the Shadow Cabinet. She was the Shadow Foreign Secretary from 2010 to 2011. In 2011, she became the Shadow Home Secretary and stayed in this role until Labour lost the 2015 election.

In May 2015, Cooper decided to run for Leader of the Labour Party. She came third in the election. After this, she stepped down as Shadow Home Secretary. From 2016 to 2021, Cooper was the chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee. As a regular MP, she often tried to delay Brexit. In November 2021, she became Shadow Home Secretary again in Keir Starmer's team.

After Labour won the 2024 election, Cooper returned to government. Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed her Home Secretary in his new government. Three weeks into her new job, she dealt with the riots across the country that followed the 2024 Southport stabbing.

Early Life and Education
Early Career in Politics
Parliamentary Career as an MP
Personal Life
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and Education

Yvette Cooper was born on 20 March 1969 in Inverness, Scotland. Her father, Tony Cooper, was a leader of a trade union. He also advised the government on energy. Her mother, June, was a maths teacher.

She went to Eggar's School and Alton College in Hampshire. She studied philosophy, politics, and economics at Balliol College, Oxford. She graduated with top honors. In 1991, she won a special scholarship to study at Harvard University in the United States. She then earned a master's degree in Economics from the London School of Economics.

When she was 24, Yvette Cooper had chronic fatigue syndrome. It took her about a year to get better.

Early Career in Politics

Cooper started her career in 1990. She researched economic policy for John Smith, who was a senior Labour politician. In 1992, she worked in Arkansas for Bill Clinton, who was running to become the US President. Later that year, she became an advisor to Harriet Harman, another important Labour politician.

In 1995, she became the main economics reporter for The Independent newspaper. She worked there until she was elected to the House of Commons in 1997.

Parliamentary Career as an MP

Cooper was chosen to be the Labour candidate for Pontefract and Castleford. She won the election in 1997 with a large number of votes. She gave her first speech in Parliament on 2 July 1997. She talked about how her local area struggled with unemployment. For two years, she was part of the Education and Employment Select Committee.

Working in Government: 1999–2010

In 1999, she became a junior minister at the Department of Health. As a health minister, Cooper helped start the Sure Start program, which supports young children and their families. She was also the first British government minister to take time off for maternity leave.

She was re-elected as MP for Pontefract and Castleford in 2001.

In 2003, she became a junior minister for regeneration. She focused on helping areas that used to have coal mines. After the 2005 election, she was promoted to Minister of State for Housing and Planning. This role was in the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Cooper was re-elected again in the 2005 election.

When Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007, Cooper was invited to attend Cabinet meetings as Housing Minister. She introduced a new scheme called Home Information Packs (HIPs). In July 2007, Cooper said in Parliament that if nothing was done, by 2026, first-time home buyers would find house prices were ten times their salary. She said this could lead to unfairness.

Cooper as Minister for Housing in 2007

In 2008, Cooper became the first woman to be Chief Secretary to the Treasury. In this role, she helped manage the government's money. Her husband, Ed Balls, was already a Cabinet minister. This meant they were the first married couple to be in the Cabinet together.

In 2009, Cooper became Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. She led work on a law called the Welfare Reform Act 2009. This law included rules to encourage unemployed people to find work. Some groups, like the Child Poverty Action Group, asked Cooper to focus more on helping job seekers to reduce child poverty.

About Expenses

In 2009, there were questions about how MPs claimed expenses. An investigation found that Cooper and her husband, Ed Balls, had received a small overpayment of £1,363 related to their mortgage. They were asked to pay this money back.

In Opposition: 2010–2015

Before the 2010 election, Cooper's local area changed. She was elected as MP for the new area, Normanton, Pontefract, and Castleford. After Labour lost the election, Cooper and her husband, Ed Balls, were considered as possible leaders for the Labour Party.

Cooper decided not to run for leader at that time, thinking about their children. She later got the most votes in the election for places in the Shadow cabinet. She became the Shadow Foreign Secretary.

When Alan Johnson stepped down as Shadow Chancellor in 2011, Cooper became Shadow Home Secretary. Her husband, Ed Balls, took over as Shadow Chancellor. Cooper also worked as the Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities from 2010 to 2013.

Shadow Home Secretary: 2011–2015

As Shadow Home Secretary, Cooper worked opposite Theresa May, who was the Home Secretary at the time. In 2013, she called the government's vans, which displayed messages telling illegal immigrants to go home, a "divisive gimmick."

In 2013, she was named one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by BBC Radio 4.

She suggested creating a national commissioner for domestic violence in 2013. In 2014, she spoke about people from Eastern Europe who were treated unfairly by employers.

Running for Labour Leader in 2015

Cooper speaking at the 2016 Labour Party Conference

After the 2015 election, Ed Miliband resigned as Labour leader. Yvette Cooper was one of four people who ran to replace him. She was supported by many MPs and local Labour groups. The Guardian newspaper and the New Statesman magazine supported her, praising her experience. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown also supported her.

During her campaign, Cooper suggested bringing back a higher income tax rate for very high earners. She also wanted to create more skilled manufacturing jobs and build 300,000 new houses each year. She believed in a living wage for social care workers.

Working as a Backbencher: 2015–2021

$Yvette Cooper Tracy Brabin in Pontefract$

Yvette Cooper campaigning with Tracy Brabin in Pontefract in 2021

After the 2015 Labour leadership election, Cooper returned to being a regular MP, not in the Shadow Cabinet. She worked on the European refugee crisis. She was made chair of Labour's refugee taskforce. This group worked with local councils and community groups to help refugees. She spoke about this issue at Labour's conference in 2016.

She supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour leadership election.

On 19 October 2016, Cooper was elected chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee. As chair, she started an inquiry into public views on immigration. She also criticized the government's decision to end a program for child refugees in 2017.

She was re-elected as MP in the 2017 election.

Cooper was critical of the government's plans for infrastructure, saying they focused too much on big cities. She was also chair of Labour Towns, a group of Labour politicians who wanted more investment in towns.

She was re-elected again in the 2019 election.

Brexit

During the process of Brexit, Cooper consistently worked to prevent the UK from leaving the European Union without a deal. In January 2019, she put forward one of the main proposals to stop a "no-deal" Brexit.

In April, Cooper introduced a special bill in Parliament to prevent a "no-deal" Brexit. MPs voted to discuss this bill quickly, as it was seen as very important. The bill became law on 8 April 2019.

In the Shadow Cabinet Again: 2021–2024

On 29 November 2021, Keir Starmer appointed Cooper as Shadow Home Secretary again. She replaced Nick Thomas-Symonds.

When there were questions about the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, possibly sending secure information using a private email, Cooper asked for an investigation. She wrote to the Cabinet Secretary, saying that the public needed to know that there were proper security procedures for the person in charge of national security. Cooper said that people need to trust the Home Secretary with sensitive information.

Home Secretary: 2024–Present

Due to changes in local areas, Cooper's constituency changed to Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley. In the 2024 general election, Cooper was elected as MP for this new area.

Cooper with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the 92nd Interpol General Assembly, 4 November 2024

After Labour won the general election, Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed Cooper as Home Secretary on 5 July. On 7 July, after Starmer confirmed that the Rwanda asylum plan had been stopped, Cooper announced that a new Border Security Command would be set up. This command would help reduce the number of small boats crossing the English Channel.

Following the 2024 Southport stabbing, where three young girls were killed, Cooper said she was concerned. She visited Southport the next morning to lay flowers and meet local leaders. Cooper later spoke out against the riots across England and Northern Ireland that followed the stabbing. After the person responsible pleaded guilty, Cooper announced a public inquiry. She said the victims' families "needed answers about what had happened."

The new Border Security Command was officially launched by Cooper on 7 July 2024. This command will be funded by money that was previously set aside for the Rwanda plan. It will bring together different agencies like Immigration Enforcement, MI5, the Border Force, and the National Crime Agency. Their goal is to stop smuggling gangs that help people cross the English Channel illegally. Martin Hewitt was appointed as the Border Security Commander in September 2024.

Personal Life