Yvette Cooper

Yvette Cooper — latest news, discussion & facts — IJR

Blair and Brown government (1999–2010)

In 1999, she was promoted as Parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department of Health. As a health minister, Cooper helped implement the Sure Start programme. In this post, she was also the first British government minister in history to take maternity leave.

At the 2001 general election, Cooper was re-elected as MP for Pontefract and Castleford with a decreased vote share of 69.7% and a decreased majority of 16,378.

In 2003, she became Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regeneration in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister with the responsibility of coalfield regeneration. Following the 2005 general election she was promoted to Minister, as Minister of State for Housing and Planning based in the Department for Communities and Local Government from 2006.

Cooper was again re-elected at the 2005 general election with a decreased vote share of 63.7% and a decreased majority of 15,246.

After Gordon Brown became prime minister, Cooper was invited to attend cabinet meetings as Housing Minister. Shortly after taking the job, she was required to introduce the Home Information Pack (HIPs) scheme. According to Conservative columnist Matthew Parris, Cooper conceived HIPs, but avoided direct criticism for its problems because of her connection with Brown. In July 2007, Cooper announced in the House of Commons that "unless we act now, by 2026 first-time buyers will find average house prices are ten times their salary. That could lead to real social inequality and injustice. Every part of the country needs more affordable homes – in the North and the South, in urban and rural communities".

In 2008, Cooper became the first woman to serve as Chief Secretary to the Treasury where she was involved with taking Northern Rock into public ownership. As her husband, Ed Balls, was already a cabinet minister, her promotion meant that the two became the first married couple ever to sit in the cabinet together.

In 2009, Cooper was appointed as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and took over leading on the Welfare Reform Act 2009 which included measures to extend the use of benefit sanctions to force unemployed people to seek work. Many campaigners – including the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) – urged Cooper to rethink Labour's approach, arguing instead that increasing support for job seekers was vital to eradicating child poverty.

In May 2009, The Daily Telegraph reported that Cooper had changed the designation of her second home twice in two years. Following a referral to the parliamentary standards watchdog, Cooper and her husband Ed Balls were exonerated by John Lyon, the Standards Commissioner. He said they had paid capital gains tax on their homes and were not motivated by profit. Cooper and Balls bought a four-bedroom house in Stoke Newington, North London, and registered this as their second home (rather than their home in Castleford, West Yorkshire); this qualified them for up to £44,000 a year to subsidise a reported £438,000 mortgage under the Commons Additional Costs Allowance, of which they claimed £24,400. An investigation in MPs' expenses by Sir Thomas Legg found that Cooper and her husband had both received overpayments of £1,363 in relation to their mortgage. He ordered them to repay the money.

Miliband Shadow Cabinet (2010–2015)

Prior to the 2010 general election, Cooper's constituency of Pontefract and Castleford was abolished, and replaced with Normanton, Pontefract, and Castleford. At the election, Cooper was elected as MP for Normanton, Pontefract, and Castleford with 48.1% of the vote and a majority of 10,979. Following Labour's defeat at the general election, Cooper and her husband Ed Balls were both mentioned in the press as a potential leadership candidates when Gordon Brown resigned as Leader of the Labour Party.

Before Balls announced his candidacy, he offered to stand aside if Cooper wanted to stand, but Cooper declined for the sake of their children, stating that it would not be the right time for her. She later topped the 2010 ballot for places in the Shadow cabinet, and there was speculation that the newly elected Labour Leader Ed Miliband would appoint her Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. She instead became Shadow Foreign Secretary.

When Alan Johnson resigned as Shadow Chancellor on 20 January 2011, Cooper was appointed Shadow Home Secretary. Her husband, Ed Balls, replaced Johnson as Shadow Chancellor. Cooper also served as Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities from October 2010 to October 2013.

On 20 January 2011, Cooper took the position of shadow home secretary amidst a shadow cabinet reshuffle. In this position, Cooper shadowed Theresa May at the Home Office. She labelled the government's vans displaying posters urging illegal immigrants to go home a "divisive gimmick" in October 2013.

In February 2013, she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4, although not in the top 20.

In 2013, she proposed the appointment of a national commissioner for domestic and sexual violence. She spoke at the Labour Party Conference in 2014 about eastern Europeans who were mistreated by employers of migrant labour.

Cooper was strongly critical of cuts to child tax credit announced by George Osborne in the July 2015 Budget; she authored the following statement in the New Statesman:

And remember David Cameron's pre-election pledge that child tax credit is "not going to fall." It was a lie. This is a shameful betrayal of parents working hard to support their kids and get on in life. In the twenty-first century working parents shouldn't have to go to food banks to put a hot meal on the table, as too many families now do.

Backbencher (2015–2021)

Cooper returned to the backbenches following her defeat in the leadership election, after nearly 17 years on the frontbench. Building on her existing work on the European refugee crisis, Cooper was appointed chair of Labour's refugee taskforce, working with local authorities, community groups and trade unions to develop a sustainable and humanitarian response to the crisis. She spoke about the issue at Labour's annual conference in 2016.

She supported Owen Smith against Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 leadership election.

Following a vote of MPs on 19 October 2016, Cooper was elected chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, gaining more votes than fellow candidates, Caroline Flint, Chuka Umunna and Paul Flynn. As chair, Cooper launched a national inquiry into public views on immigration and, after an emergency inquiry into the Dubs scheme for child refugees, criticised the government's decision to end the programme in February 2017.

At the snap 2017 general election, Cooper was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 59.5% and a decreased majority of 14,499.As part of the centenary celebrations of the Women's Suffrage Centenary in the UK, Yvette Cooper wore an outfit and rosette in the colours of the Women's Social and Political Union, an organisation which conducted a bombing and arson campaign between the years 1912 and 1914, causing injuries and deaths.

Cooper was critical of the May government's infrastructure plans' focus on big cities, and was formerly the chair of Labour Towns, a group of Labour MPs, councillors and mayors of towns seeking to promote investment in them – publishing a town manifesto in 2019.

She is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.

She was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 37.9% and a decreased majority of 1,276.

During the Brexit process, Cooper consistently fought against a no-deal Brexit, tabling one of the main amendments in January 2019; others to table amendments were Caroline Spelman, Graham Brady, Rachel Reeves, Dominic Grieve and Ian Blackford.

In April, Cooper tabled a private members' bill, again with the intended effect of preventing a "no-deal" Brexit. The Bill was voted to be discussed as an important bill using processes often used for issues of national security. MPs voted 312 to 311 in favour of allowing her bill to be fast-tracked, and it was made law on 8 April 2019.

Home Secretary (2024–2025)

Due to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, Cooper's constituency of Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford was abolished, and replaced with Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley. At the 2024 general election, Cooper was elected to Parliament as MP for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley with 47.5% of the vote and a majority of 6,630.

Following Labour's victory in the general election, Cooper was appointed home secretary by Starmer in his government on 5 July. On 7 July, after Starmer confirmed that the Rwanda asylum plan had been scrapped, Cooper announced that the Border Security Command would be established in order to help reduce small boat crossings across the English channel.

Following the 2024 Southport stabbings, in which three young girls were killed, Cooper stated that she was concerned by the incident and described the emergency services' response as courageous. Cooper additionally visited Southport the following morning to lay flowers and meet officials and community leaders. Starmer also visited the same day and laid flowers at the scene, and was heckled by some members of the public. Cooper later condemned the riots across England and Northern Ireland following the stabbing. After Axel Rudakubana's guilty plea on 20 January 2025, Cooper announced a public inquiry, stating that the victims' families "needed answers about what had happened leading up to the attack". This was followed by Starmer's promise to overhaul terrorism laws to reflect the type of non-ideological killings characterised by individuals like Rudakubana, stressing the threat from "acts of extreme violence perpetrated by loners, misfits, young men in their bedroom, accessing all manner of material online, desperate for notoriety, sometimes inspired by traditional terrorist groups, but fixated on that extreme violence, seemingly for its own sake". Significant attention was drawn to the anti-radicalisation Prevent programme for failing to accept referrals of Rudakubana on the basis of him lacking a terrorist ideology. Although an emergency review found that Prevent had followed correct procedures on each referral, Cooper concluded "that too much weight was placed on the absence of ideology" in the programme. Cooper announced that there would be a review on the threshold at which Prevent intervenes, with senior lawyer David Anderson being assigned by Starmer as the Independent Prevent Commissioner to perform the review.

The new office of Border Security Commander was established, whose remit would be to lead the new command and its members. The command was launched by Cooper on 7 July 2024. The command would be funded by money previously earmarked for the Rwanda plan and would be responsible for coordinating the activities of Immigration Enforcement, MI5, the Border Force and the National Crime Agency in tackling smuggling gangs which facilitate illegal migrant crossings over the English Channel. A team in the Home Office was tasked with setting out the remit of the command, as well as its governance structure and its strategic direction. Martin Hewitt was appointed to the role of Border Security Commander in September 2024, by the Home Secretary.

Cooper faced a significant backlash over her "immigration crackdown", with critics saying that her plans were "a waste of taxpayer money, lack detail and fail to recognise 'the dignity and humanity of migrants', especially in the wake of recent racist riots that targeted hotels housing asylum seekers across the country", with Amnesty International accusing Cooper of "reheating the Conservative government's rhetoric around border security", and Enver Solomon of the Refugee Council stating that she was "wasting taxpayers' money on expanding detention places." Cooper's Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill was criticised by fellow Labour MPs for retaining Conservative era anti-migrant legislation, with Sarah Champion criticising the bill for disqualifying asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats from claiming protection from modern slavery, and Nadia Whittome stating the legislation must reverse "powers to detain child refugees for up to 28 days." Later in September 2024 she was likewise also accused of "playing catch-up to Reform".

After a trans rights protest in London she branded messages of trans solidarity on the statues of several influential figures, including South African prime minister Jan Smuts, "disgraceful".

In November 2024, Cooper voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted suicide.

In May 2025, Starmer launched a white paper on the topic of immigration with a speech including that the UK risked becoming an "island of strangers", and that high immigration had done "incalculable damage" to society. His language was criticised for its perceived echoes of Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech, and in June, Starmer apologised for his "island of strangers" comment, saying that the phrase "wasn't right" and "I deeply regret using it". Later, Cooper said she had been effectively excluded from launching the immigration white paper, which was a home office policy, by the Prime Minister's Office who wanted it fronted by Starmer, saying "I didn't see what was going to be said or what the announcement was … that was the way that No 10 operated."

On 23 June 2025, after a small group of Palestine Action people broke into RAF Brize Norton and caused criminal damage to military planes, Cooper reported to Parliament that the group was to be designated as a proscribed terrorist organisation.

Foreign Secretary (2025–2026)

Cooper was appointed Foreign Secretary on 5 September 2025 during the cabinet reshuffle which followed the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner. She became the first woman in British political history to have served as both home and foreign secretary. Her first overseas visit as Foreign Secretary was a trip to Ukraine, during which she met with Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha and announced sanctions against companies involved in supporting the Russian invasion.

As Foreign Secretary, Cooper oversaw the British government's decision in September 2025 to recognise the state of Palestine, which she stated was "borne of urgency and principle", and which must be "a spur, not a substitute for urgent action" towards a ceasefire.

In December 2025, Cooper publicly identified China as a national security threat due to its cyber-attacks, espionage, and its support for Russia "in its war against Ukraine".

In December 2025, Cooper condemned the "horrific" atrocities in El Fasher, Sudan, describing them as a "scar on the conscience of the world". Her statements followed the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in late October 2025, which led to reports of widespread massacres. In late 2025, Cooper faced significant parliamentary and public pressure regarding allegations that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is supplying arms to the RSF in Sudan. She has avoided committing to an immediate arms embargo on the UAE, instead focusing on diplomatic pressure and humanitarian aid.

In January 2026, following the capture of Nicolas Maduro by the United States in Venezuela, Cooper spoke to her counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and later announced to the House of Commons that she had reminded Rubio of the country's "obligation" to international law.In February and March 2026, the UK government refused to join the US–UK strikes on Iran which eventually culminated in the 2026 Iran war. In response from criticism from Tony Blair over the UK not joining the war, Cooper stated that "there are some people in politics who think that we should always agree with the US whatever. There are other people in politics who think we should never take action with the US again whatever the circumstances. I don’t think either of those positions is in the UK national interest". She added that it was the responsibility of Starmer to act in the "UK national interest" following criticism of Starmer by US president Donald Trump.

During the 2026 Labour Party leadership crisis on 21 June 2026, shortly after the victory of Andy Burnham in the Makerfield by-election, Cooper reportedly told Starmer to resign as Prime Minister. Cooper later endorsed and then nominated Burnham in the subsequent leadership election.

In July 2026, after the announcement that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) would be proscribed, Cooper summoned the Iranian ambassador to the UK, Ali Mousavi, to the Foreign Office. She said that the intelligence services of Iran had planned and "conducted dangerous, potentially lethal, operations".

Foreign Affairs

Cooper has condemned Russia for its actions in the Russo-Ukrainian war. In 2025, she described the war as an "illegal and unprovoked war of aggression" which was an assault on the UN charter.

In November 2024, Cooper criticised Russian president Vladimir Putin for his threats to use weapons against nations whose own weapons were used to attack Russia. In an interview with Sky News, Cooper stated that "Russia invaded a sovereign state" and that Putin had used an "aggressive, blustering tone" throughout the conflict which she described as "completely unacceptable".

Following Russian attacks on Kyiv in May 2026, Cooper condemned the "awful scenes" and vowed to "keep up pressure on Russia".

Cooper campaigned to remain in the European Union (EU) in the 2016 Brexit referendum. She argued that the leave campaign suggested that the leave campaign promised to both end free movement and stay in the single market. Cooper stated that "if you want to change the rules, you have to be in there. You can't get reform if you stay on the outside", and argued that a "false promise" was being given over the future border controls of Britain.

During the 2015 leadership election, in August, Cooper called for a "moral approach" to the European migrant crisis. She criticised the government of David Cameron, for having "repeatedly failed" to take diplomatic action with France to assess the number of people camped out to cross she English Channel who were refugees. She also argued that Britain "does need to do more overall to take people, particularly who are refugees from Syria and from the humanitarian crisis in Syria."

In September 2015, Cooper pressure Cameron to do more to respond to the Syrian humanitarian crisis, stating that "Syria is the humanitarian catastrophe of our generation. We cannot turn our backs." She argued that if every city or county took ten families each, then Britain would be able to help nearly 10,000 people.

In 2020, Cooper tabled an amendment to an immigration bill ending freedom movement which sought to extend existing rules to allow unaccompanied child refugees to be reunited with relatives in the UK. She argued that "desperate young people have already lost their lives, we should not turn our backs on them now, we need to sustain those safe and legal routes."

Cooper has been supportive of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). She was critical of Jeremy Corbyn's policy of withdrawing from NATO. In 2015, she argued that it was "not radical" to support leaving the organisation, but that the UK should "stay in NATO" as internationalism was a "core Labour principle" and said that she would "always fight for it".

In January 2026, Cooper called for NATO defence against Russia in the Arctic. Cooper argued that the region was "the gateway for Russia's Northern Fleet to be able to threaten the United Kingdom, to threaten Western Europe and Norway, to threaten the United States and Canada." She also called on NATO to "double down" and to "do what we've done in other areas" in order to "really strengthen the security of the high north".

In February 2026, Cooper criticised Reform and the Green party for what she described as being "soft on Russia and weak on NATO". She argued that "our national security depends on us having partnerships abroad that make us strong", and suggested that the two parties had been seen to "undermine that commitment to the NATO alliance".

In 2024, ahead of the vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill which proposed to legalise assisted suicide for terminally ill adults, Cooper stated that she voted for it about "20 years ago" and continued to believe that "change is needed". She said that she had not changed her view on the "principles of the issue", but recognised that a "detailed debate" was needed on the "detail of legislation on the kinds of safeguards and things that need to be in place".

Cooper is a supporter of same-sex marriage and sponsored the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. She argued in 2012 that the arguments against changing the law were "deeply unconvincing", and argued that the legislation to legalise same-sex marriage was straightforward. She wrote a piece in The Independent titled "Marriage is about joy, whatever your gender" in May 2013. In her speech in the debate in the House of Commons, she argued "Parliament shouldn't stop people getting married just because they have fallen in love with someone of the same sex. Parliament shouldn't say that same sex relationships are intrinsically worth less."

In response to Church of England opposition, Cooper argued that "two people who love each other and want to make a long term commitment to each other should be able to get married whatever their gender or sexuality." She went on to say that Parliament had legislated on civil marriage for "400 years", and that it should "update it again now" so that "long term loving relationships" could remain "relevant" and reflect "our sense of justice and equality in a modern society".

After the 2013 bill was passed by Parliament, Cooper said that it was a time to "celebrate, not discriminate".

In 2015, Cooper, as Shadow Women and Equalities Minister, stated the Labour would look into issuing gender neutral passports for people who identified as neither male or female if Labour won the 2015 general election. The passports would have allowed for people to write Gender X as their gender on their passport. She pledged to hold a review, citing the gender recognition act being 10 years old, and argued that there were a "whole series of issues" in the law which affected "intersex and trans people".

In March 2022, Cooper refused to give a definition of what a woman was, describing the subject as a "rabbit hole".

Yvette Cooper

Yvette Cooper

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Early life and education

Early career

Parliamentary career

Blair and Brown government (1999–2010)

Miliband Shadow Cabinet (2010–2015)

2015 Labour leadership election

Backbencher (2015–2021)

Starmer Shadow Cabinet (2021–2024)

Home Secretary (2024–2025)

Foreign Secretary (2025–2026)

Health Secretary (2026–present)

Political positions

Foreign Affairs

Personal life

Related journals

Notable quotes

About Yvette Cooper

About Yvette Cooper

Article

Notable quotes

Related journals

Live room · 1 here

Article

Early life and education

Early career

Parliamentary career

Blair and Brown government (1999–2010)

Miliband Shadow Cabinet (2010–2015)

2015 Labour leadership election

Backbencher (2015–2021)

Starmer Shadow Cabinet (2021–2024)

Home Secretary (2024–2025)

Foreign Secretary (2025–2026)

Health Secretary (2026–present)

Political positions

Foreign Affairs

Social issues and individual liberties

Personal life

Related journals

Notable quotes