Jeff Rooker

Jeffrey William Rooker, Baron Rooker PC (born 5 June 1941) is a British Labour Party politician, who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Perry Barr from 1974 until 2001, and served as a government minister from 1997 until 2001. He was later appointed to the House of Lords, where he continued to serve in the government under several portfolios until 2008.

The Right Honourable The Lord Rooker PC
Rooker in 2018
Chairman of the Food Standards Agency
In office July 2009 – July 2013
Appointed by	Hilary Benn
Preceded by	Dame Deirdre Hutton
Succeeded by	Heather Hancock
Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
In office June 2005 – October 2008
Prime Minister	Tony Blair Gordon Brown
Leader	The Baroness Amos The Baroness Ashton of Upholland
Preceded by	The Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
Succeeded by	The Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Minister of State for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health
In office 6 May 2006 – 3 October 2008
Prime Minister	Tony Blair Gordon Brown
Preceded by	The Lord Bach
Succeeded by	Jane Kennedy
Minister of State for Children in Northern Ireland
In office 9 May 2005 – 6 May 2006
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Barry Gardiner
Succeeded by	Maria Eagle
Minister of State for Regeneration and Regional Development
In office 13 June 2003 – 9 May 2005
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Yvette Cooper
Minister of State for Housing and Planning
In office 29 May 2002 – 13 June 2003
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	The Lord Falconer of Thoroton
Succeeded by	Keith Hill
Minister of State for Asylum and Immigration
In office 11 June 2001 – 29 May 2002
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Barbara Roche
Succeeded by	Beverley Hughes
Minister of State for Pensions
In office 29 July 1999 – 7 June 2001
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Stephen Timms
Succeeded by	Ian McCartney
Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office 6 May 1997 – 29 July 1999
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Tony Baldry
Succeeded by	Joyce Quin
Parliamentary representation Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal Incumbent Assumed office 16 June 2001 Life Peerage Member of Parliament for Birmingham Perry Barr In office 28 February 1974 – 14 May 2001 Preceded by Joseph Kinsey Succeeded by Khalid Mahmood
Personal details
Born	Jeffrey William Rooker (1941-07-05) 5 July 1941
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour (since 2013; before 2009) Independent (2009–2013)
Alma mater	Aston University

Rooker resigned the Labour whip in 2009 after being appointed Chairman of the Food Standards Agency. He sat as an Independent member in the House of Lords until 2013 when, standing down as Chairman 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 (now called Great Barr School), Aldridge Road, Great Barr. He later attended Handsworth Technical School and College (later known as City College Handsworth), Goldshill Road, Handsworth. He initially trained as a production engineer, working in various factories in and around Birmingham for 14 years and then became a lecturer on the subject at Lanchester Polytechnic.

Rooker is an alumnus of Aston University in the city of Birmingham, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2001, he served as Editor of the Birmingham Student Union News (SUN) from 1963 until 1964.[1] He also has a post-graduate degree from the University of Warwick in Industrial Relations. In 1966, he was an unsuccessful candidate for membership of Birmingham City Council.

Parliamentary career

Backbenches

Rooker was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate in October 1971 for his home constituency of Birmingham Perry Barr, which he won in the February 1974 general election.

Rooker achieved a measure of national prominence in June 1977 while still a backbencher. With fellow MP Audrey Wise, he introduced the so-called Rooker–Wise Amendment to the Budget. 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".[2]

Beginning in 1998, Rooker led an unsuccessful attempt to prosecute World War II German General Wilhelm Mohnke for his alleged role in war crimes inflicted on British troops at Wormhoudt in 1940.[3]

Ministerial career

After Tony Blair led Labour to power in the 1997 general election, Rooker served as Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. In July 1999, he was moved to the Department of Social Security where he served as Minister of State for Pensions. He was made a Privy Counsellor in 1999.

Rooker stood down as an MP at the 2001 general election and was created a life peer on 16 June 2001 with the title Baron Rooker, of Perry Barr in the County of the West Midlands.[4] As a member of the House of Lords, he was re-appointed to the government 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, where he served as Minister of State for Housing and Planning, 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, with responsibility for children in Northern Ireland.

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. 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. He retained both these roles when Gordon Brown became Labour leader and Prime Minister in 2007 but stood down in October 2008.

Later career

Rooker is a vice president of The Birmingham Civic Society. As of January 2008, he is a lay governor of Aston University. In July 2009 he was appointed as chairman of the Food Standards Agency and resigned the Labour party whip for the duration until he ceased to be chairman in 2013.[5]

Views

Rooker has shown himself to be outspokenly in favour of genetically modified (GM) foods. In September 2008, at the Labour Party Conference, he accused people opposed to GM foods of "ignorance".[6]

In December 2015, Rooker called for Jeremy Corbyn to be removed as Labour Party leader before 2020.[7]

Rooker is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[8]

Personal life

He married Angela Edwards in 1972 in Paddington, London. He was widowed in January 2003. He married second wife Helen Hughes on 5 February 2010 in a private ceremony in Christchurch, New Zealand. He has two stepchildren, Alexander and Morwenna.

References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

1. "Aston announces this year's honorary graduates" (Press release). Aston University. 10 July 2001. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
2. "Budget rebellions remain scarce". BBC. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
3. "MP seeks release of more details". The Independent. 20 January 1994. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
4. "No. 56252". The London Gazette. 21 June 2001. p. 7343.
5. "Jeff Rooker resigns Labour whip to chair Food Standards Agency". The Times. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
6. Driver, Alistair (22 September 2008). "Rooker accuses 'messianic' anti-GM lobby of ignorance". Farmers Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 May 2010.
7. PoliticsHome.com (3 December 2015). "Labour peer: We need to get rid of Corbyn".
8. "LFI Supporters in Parliament". Labour Friends of Israel. Retrieved 8 September 2019.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Jeff Rooker
• Lord Rooker profile on the Defra official website
• They Work For You

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Joseph Kinsey	Member of Parliament for Birmingham Perry Barr Feb 1974–2001	Succeeded by Khalid Mahmood
Political offices
Preceded by The Lord Falconer of Thoroton	Minister of State for Housing and Planning 2002–2003	Succeeded by Keith Hill
Preceded by The Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean	Deputy Leader of the House of Lords 2005–2008	Succeeded by The Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by The Lord Bhatia	Gentlemen Baron Rooker	Followed by The Lord Hannay of Chiswick