Yvette Cooper Biography Yvette Cooper, born on March 20, 1969, is a British politician who has been serving as the Home Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has represented Pontefract, Castleford, and Knottingley in Parliament since 1997. Previously, she represented Normanton, Pontefract, and Castleford. Cooper was first elected to Parliament in the 1997 general election and quickly rose through the ranks. From 1999 to 2005, she held various positions as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in three departments under Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Yvette Cooper Biography
Yvette Cooper, MP and Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responded to the latest migration figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Home Office visa and asylum statistics, saying: Today’s figures, which reveal a 65% rise in net migration for work, highlight the extent of the Conservative government’s failure on immigration, asylum, and the economy. The increase in work visas by 54% and the dramatic 156% rise in health and social care visas underscore the government’s failure to address the UK’s skills gap, workforce planning, and their overall mismanagement of the economy.
Yvette Cooper Biography Details 2025
| Born | 20 March 1969 (age 55) Inverness, Scotland |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Ed Balls (m. 1998) |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent | Tony Cooper (father) |
| Education | Balliol College, Oxford (BA) Harvard University London School of Economics (MSc) |
| Category | Politician Biography |
About Yvette Cooper
Yvette Cooper is a British politician who has served as Home Secretary since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, Cooper has been member of parliament for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley, previously Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, since 1997.
- Born: 20 March 1969 (age 55 years), Inverness, United Kingdom
- Spouse: Ed Balls (m. 1998)
- Children: Ellie Cooper, Joe Balls, Maddy Balls
- Previous offices: Shadow Home Secretary of the United Kingdom (2021–2024) ·
- Education: Harvard University, Eggar’s School ·
- Office: Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2024
- Party: Labour Party
Early Life and Education
Yvette Cooper was born in Inverness, Scotland, to Tony Cooper, a former trade union leader, and June, a math teacher. She was educated at Eggar’s School and Alton College in Hampshire before going on to study philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) at Balliol College, Oxford, where she graduated with first-class honours. She later won a Kennedy Scholarship in 1991 to study at Harvard University and earned an MSc in economics from the London School of Economics.
Early Career
Cooper began her career in 1990 as an economic policy researcher for Shadow Chancellor John Smith. She also worked for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992 and later became a policy advisor to Harriet Harman. At the age of 24, she developed chronic fatigue syndrome and took a year off to recover. She then became a research associate at the Centre for Economic Performance before joining The Independent in 1995 as the chief economics correspondent, a position she held until being elected to Parliament in 1997.
Parliamentary Career
Cooper was selected as the Labour candidate for Pontefract and Castleford in the 1997 general election, where she won with 75.7% of the vote and a majority of 25,725. She made her maiden speech in the House of Commons on July 2, 1997, highlighting her constituency’s struggles with unemployment. She served on the Education and Employment Select Committee for two years.
Cooper was promoted in 1999 to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health, where she helped implement the Sure Start programme and made history as the first British government minister to take maternity leave. She was re-elected in 2001 with a reduced majority but continued to rise within the ranks. In 2003, she became Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regeneration in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, responsible for coalfield regeneration.
Before Fame
After earning a degree in politics, philosophy, and economics from Balliol College, Oxford, she studied at both Harvard University and the London School of Economics.
Trivia
Before running for political office in Great Britain, she worked on the 1992 presidential campaign of then-Arkansas governor Bill Clinton.
Family Life
A native of Inverness, Scotland, she was raised primarily in Holybourne, England. Her marriage to fellow Labour Party Member of Parliament Ed Balls resulted in three children.
Associated With
At different points in their careers, she and Conservative politician Ann Widdecombe both held the United Kingdom governmental position of Shadow Home Secretary.
Personal Life
Yvette Cooper married Ed Balls on January 10, 1998, in Eastbourne. Her husband served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury during Tony Blair’s government and as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families under Gordon Brown. Afterward, Balls became the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer and a candidate in the 2010 Labour Party leadership race. Together, Cooper and Balls have three children: two daughters and one son. Cooper is also an author, having published two books: She Speaks: The Power of Women’s Voices in November 2019, and She Speaks: Women’s Speeches That Changed the World, from Pankhurst to Greta in October 2020.
Yvette Cooper Net Worth 2025
Yvette Cooper has a market cap or net worth of $6.85 billion.