Jeffrey William Rooker, Baron Rooker (born 5 June 1941) is a British politician and
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
who served as a government minister from 1997 to 2008. A member of the
Labour Party, he was
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
Birmingham Perry Barr
Birmingham Perry Barr is a constituency in the West Midlands, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by Khalid Mahmood of the Labour Party.
Constituency profile
UK Polling Report stated in 2015: "Perry Barr and ...
from
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
to
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
.
Raised and educated in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, Rooker worked as a production engineer in the city before lecturing in the subject at
Lanchester Polytechnic
, mottoeng = By Art and Industry
, established =
, type = Public
, endowment = £28 million (2015)
, budget = £787.5 million
, chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford
, vice_chancellor = John Latham
, students = ()
, underg ...
. He studied at
Aston University
Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first c ...
and the
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...
; and he eventually gained a postgraduate degree in
industrial relations
Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade
unions, employer organizations, ...
. After unsuccessfully attempting to be elected to
Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom (e ...
in 1966, he was elected to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
at the
February 1974 general election and joined the government after the Labour victory at the
1997 general election as
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...
at the
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
.
Upon standing down from the Commons at the
2001 general election, Rooker was later appointed to the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
where he continued to serve in the government under several ministerial portfolios until 2008, including as
Deputy Leader of the House of Lords and
Minister of State for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health from 2005 to 2008. He resigned the Labour whip in 2009 after being appointed chair of the
Food Standards Agency
, type = Non-ministerial government department
, nativename =
, nativename_a =
, nativename_r =
, logo = Food Standards Agency.svg
, logo_width =
, logo_caption =
, seal =
, seal_width =
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, picture =
, picture_width =
, ...
. He sat as an independent member in the House of Lords until 2013 when, standing down as chair of the FSA, he took up the Labour whip once again.
Early life and career
The son of a factory worker, Jeff Rooker attended
Aldridge Road Secondary Modern Boys School, Aldridge Road,
Great Barr
Great Barr is now a large and loosely defined area to the north-west of Birmingham, England. The area was historically in Staffordshire, and the parts now in Birmingham were once known as Perry Barr, which is still the name of an adjacent Birmi ...
. He later attended
Handsworth Technical School and College, Goldshill Road,
Handsworth. He initially trained as a production engineer, working in various factories in and around
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
for 14 years and then became a lecturer on the subject at
Lanchester Polytechnic
, mottoeng = By Art and Industry
, established =
, type = Public
, endowment = £28 million (2015)
, budget = £787.5 million
, chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford
, vice_chancellor = John Latham
, students = ()
, underg ...
.
Rooker graduated with an undergraduate degree from
Aston University
Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston''. for post-nominals) is a public research university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first c ...
in the city of Birmingham and he served as editor of the Birmingham ''Student Union News'' (SUN) from 1963 to 1964. He later received a postgraduate degree from the
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...
in
industrial relations
Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade
unions, employer organizations, ...
. In 1966, he was an unsuccessful candidate for membership of
Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom (e ...
.
Early parliamentary career
Rooker was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate in October 1971 for his home constituency of
Birmingham Perry Barr
Birmingham Perry Barr is a constituency in the West Midlands, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by Khalid Mahmood of the Labour Party.
Constituency profile
UK Polling Report stated in 2015: "Perry Barr and ...
, which he won in the
February 1974 general election.
Rooker achieved a measure of national prominence in June 1977 while still a
backbencher
In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...
. With fellow MP
Audrey Wise
Audrey Wise (''née'' Brown; 4 January 1932Wise gave her age as thirty-nine when nominated for the Coventry parliamentary seat, though she had just turned forty-two when she was elected in February 1974. Her date of birth was routinely reported ...
, he introduced the so-called ''Rooker–Wise Amendment'' to the
Budget
A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...
. This linked personal tax allowances to the rate of inflation, thereby preventing the erosion of non-taxable income. The BBC has described the amendment as "a rare example of direct backbench influence on the Budget".
Beginning in 1998, Rooker led an unsuccessful attempt to prosecute
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
German General
Wilhelm Mohnke
Wilhelm Mohnke (15 March 1911 – 6 August 2001) was one of the original members of the SS-Staff Guard (''Stabswache'') "Berlin" formed in March 1933. From those ranks, Mohnke rose to become one of Adolf Hitler's last remaining generals. He joi ...
for his alleged role in war crimes inflicted on British troops at
Wormhoudt
Wormhout (; before 1975: ''Wormhoudt''; vls, Wormout) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department in northern France. Several people in Wormhout still speak West Flemish, a local dialec ...
in 1940.
Ministerial career
![Lord Rooker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Lord_Rooker.jpg)
After
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
led Labour to power in the
1997 general election, Rooker served as
Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
. In July 1999, he was moved to the
Department of Social Security
The Department of Social Security (DSS) was a governmental agency in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 2001. The old abbreviation is still often used informally. Advertisements for rented accommodation used to describe prospective tenants who wou ...
where he served as Minister of State for Pensions. He was made a
Privy Counsellor
The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a privy council, formal body of advisers to the British monarchy, sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises Politics of the United King ...
in 1999.
Rooker stood down as an MP at the
2001 general election and was created a
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
on 16 June 2001 with the title Baron Rooker, ''of
Perry Barr
Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, England. It is also the name of a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Birmingham Perry Barr is also a parliamentary constituency; its Member of Parliament is Khalid Ma ...
in the
County
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of the
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
''. As a member of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, he was re-appointed to the
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
as the
Minister of State for Asylum and Immigration and remained in the post for a year. He then was moved to the
Department for Communities and Local Government
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government ...
, where he served as
Minister of State for Housing and Planning
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
, then subsequently Minister of State for Regeneration and Regional Development.
Following the
2005 general election, Rooker was named the Minister of State at the
Northern Ireland Office
The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; ga, Oifig Thuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for N ...
, with responsibility for children in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
On 6 May 2006, Rooker was appointed Minister of State for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health at the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...
. He was a controversial choice as minister responsible for animal welfare due to his well-known pro-hunting views. In 2007, following Rooker's appointment, numerous complaints from animal welfare campaigners were sent to the Labour Party. He later also became deputy leader of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
. He retained both these roles when
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...
became
Labour leader
The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again.
19th century
The origins of the ...
and
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
in 2007 and showed himself to be outspokenly in favour of
genetically modified
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the gene ...
(GM) foods at the September 2008 Labour Party Conference, when he accused people opposed to GM foods of "ignorance". Rooker stood down in October 2008.
Later career
Rooker is a vice president of
The Birmingham Civic Society
Birmingham Civic Society is a voluntary body in Birmingham, England, and is registered with the Civic Trust.
History
The society was founded at an inaugural meeting on 10 June 1918 in the Birmingham Council House. The first president of the ...
. As of January 2008, he is a lay governor of Aston University. In July 2009, he was appointed as chair of the
Food Standards Agency
, type = Non-ministerial government department
, nativename =
, nativename_a =
, nativename_r =
, logo = Food Standards Agency.svg
, logo_width =
, logo_caption =
, seal =
, seal_width =
, seal_caption =
, picture =
, picture_width =
, ...
and resigned the Labour party whip for the duration until he ceased to be chair in 2013.
In December 2015, Rooker called for
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
to be removed as Labour Party leader before 2020.
Rooker is a member of
Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that promotes support for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party and the Isra ...
.
Personal life
Rooker married Angela Edwards in 1972 in
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...
, London. He was widowed in January 2003. He married second wife Helen Hughes on 5 February 2010 in a private ceremony in
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
, New Zealand. He has a step daughter, Morwenna Hughes and a Granddaughter, Martha. In 2001, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Aston University of which he is an alumnus.
References
*
*
External links
*
Lord Rooker profile on the Defra official websiteThey Work For You
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rooker, Jeff Rooker, Baron
1941 births
Living people
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Labour Party (UK) life peers
People from Birmingham, West Midlands
Labour Friends of Israel
UK MPs 1974
UK MPs 1974–1979
UK MPs 1979–1983
UK MPs 1983–1987
UK MPs 1987–1992
UK MPs 1992–1997
UK MPs 1997–2001
Northern Ireland Office junior ministers
Academics of Coventry University
Alumni of Aston University
Ministers of State for Housing (UK)
Life peers created by Elizabeth II