Vernon Rodney Coaker, Baron Coaker (born 17 June 1953) 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 ...

serving as Shadow Spokesperson for Home Affairs and Defence since 2021. 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

Gedling Gedling is a village in the Gedling district, in Nottinghamshire, England, four miles northeast of Nottingham city centre. The population at the 2011 census of the ward was 6,817 and 111,787 for the district. Gedling was recorded in the Dome ...

from 1997 to 2019. Coaker served in government as Minister of State for Policing, Crime and Security from 2008 to 2009, and Minister of State for Schools and Learning from 2009 to 2010. In opposition, he was

Shadow Secretary of State for Defence The Shadow Secretary of State for Defence is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Defence and the department, the Ministry of Defence. The post is currently held by John Healey. Shadow S ...

from 2013 to 2015 and

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland The Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), British Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and their department, th ...

from 2011 to 2013, and again from 2015 to 2016. Coaker lost his seat at the 2019 general election.

Early life

Born in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Coaker attended

Drayton Manor Grammar School Drayton may refer to: People * Drayton (surname) Legal cases * ''United States v. Drayton'', 536 U.S. 194 (2002) Places Australia *Drayton, Queensland, a locality in the Toowoomba Region *Shire of Drayton, a former local government area in Queen ...

in London.‘COAKER, Vernon Rodney’, Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 9 Jan 2013
/ref> He studied for an Economics and Politics BA (Hons) degree at 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 ...

, then obtained a PGCE at

Trent Polytechnic Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California ...

(Clifton College of Education). Coaker worked as a teacher, becoming a History teacher at Manvers Pierrepont School (now the Carlton Road Centre of Castle College Nottingham) from 1976 to 1982, then Head of Department at Arnold Hill School from 1982 to 1988. From 1989 to 1995, he was a senior teacher at Bramcote Park School and thence until 1997 he was Deputy Headmaster at

Big Wood School The Oakwood Academy (formerly Big Wood School)' is a secondary school located on Bewcastle Road, Warren Hill, Nottingham, England. It is for 11- to 16-year-olds and is of mixed genders. The school specialises in business and enterprise and wa ...

in Bestwood, Nottingham. He is a member of the

NUT Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...

Political career

Coaker served as a district councillor for the Cotgrave Ward in

Rushcliffe Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 111,129. Its councilRushcliffe Borough CouncilRushcliffe constituency seat in 1983. He contested

in 1987 and 1992, before defeating

Andrew Mitchell Andrew John Bower Mitchell (born 23 March 1956) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sutton Coldfield since 2001. A member of the Conservative Party, Mitchell was previously the MP for Gedling from 1987 to 1 ...

at the 1997 election, becoming the first Labour MP to win the Gedling seat. After a number of Parliamentary Private Secretary roles, Coaker became a government

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in May 2005, having been an assistant whip since June 2003. He served as a

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 Home Office between 2008 and 2009 before being moved to take up the role of Minister of State for Schools and Learning between 2009 and 2010. Following the Labour defeat at the 2010 General Election, Coaker was appointed as

in October 2011. Coaker joined dozens of shadow ministers in resigning from his position on 26 June 2016 in Labour's parliamentary disquiet over the leadership of

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 ...

. He supported

Owen Smith Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a former Labour Party politician and subsequently a British lobbyist, who has been the UK government relations director for pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb since 2020. Smith was Member of Parliamen ...

in the failed attempt to replace

in the

2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election The 2016 Labour Party leadership election was called when a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party arose following criticism of his approach to the Remain campaign in the referendum on membership of the European Union and q ...

. He lost his seat in the 2019 general election. In December 2020, it was announced he would be conferred a

life peerage 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 Ac ...

after a

nomination Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

by Labour Party Leader

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...

. On 22 March 2021, he was introduced 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 ...

as ''Baron Coaker, of Gedling in the County of Nottinghamshire''. He made his maiden speech on 17 May 2021 during the Queen's Speech debate, and was later appointed to the front bench as a Home Affairs and Defence spokesperson.

Expenses scandal

Coaker was found to have claimed large sums every month in cash for his second home without submitting any receipts. Over the course of four years, he claimed £3,425 for cleaning, £6,320 for services and maintenance and £5,205 for repairs. This was initially for his semi-detached home in

Cotgrave Cotgrave is a town and civil parish in the borough of Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire, England, some 5 miles (8 km) south-east of central Nottingham. It perches on the South Nottinghamshire Wolds about 131 feet (40 metres) above sea level. ...

, and then for his one-bedroom flat in

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the ...

in London. A spokesman for Coaker subsequently stated that expenses were claimed in accordance with the rules administered by Commons fees office at the time.

Political positions

Coaker supports the modernisation of the UK Trident missile system, and Britain's membership of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. He supports the multilateral disarmament of nuclear weapons. Coaker belongs to the

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 ...

lobby group. Shortly after being appointed Minister for Drugs and Crime Reduction in the May 2006 reshuffle, he revealed to the ''

Coventry Evening Telegraph The ''Coventry Telegraph'' is a local English tabloid newspaper. It was founded as ''The Midland Daily Telegraph'' in 1891 by William Isaac Iliffe, and was Coventry's first daily newspaper. Sold for half a penny, it was a four-page broadsheet ne ...

'' that he had had "one or two puffs" of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

as a student but did not enjoy it. His admission was made during a nationwide tour to evaluate the effectiveness of the government's drugs strategy. He also supports people taking part in

shooting sports Shooting sports is a group of competitive sport, competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airgun ...

and

angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniqu ...

. In January 2010, Coaker apologised for remarks that misled MPs. He had earlier told MPs that 70 police officers were hurt as a result of a

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

protest at Kingsnorth power station. In fact there were only 12 injuries that were legally reportable with just four of those involving contact with another person. The remaining eight injuries included "wasp sting", an injury while "sitting in a car", and an officer succumbing "to sun and heat". There were 68 injuries in total with the rest being treated by first-aiders at the scene. The whole operation had involved more than 1,000 officers.

Personal life

He married Jacqueline Heaton on 23 December 1978 in Basford; the couple have a daughter and a son. He supports

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. His wife, who is a teacher, was a town councillor in

, where they live in the district of

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

on 23 July 2020. * He was awarded the

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

of the

Borough of Gedling Gedling is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England, whose council is based in Arnold, north-east of Nottingham. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 113,543. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by m ...

on 17 June 2022.

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Coaker, Vernon 1953 births Living people Alumni of Nottingham Trent University Alumni of the University of Warwick Councillors in Nottinghamshire Department for Children, Schools and Families Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Labour Friends of Israel People educated at Drayton Manor High School People from Cotgrave Schoolteachers from Nottinghamshire UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 Life peers created by Elizabeth II