Vernon Coaker

Vernon Coaker MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 October 2011
Leader	Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Shaun Woodward
Minister of State for Schools and Learners
In office 8 June 2009 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Jim Knight
Succeeded by	Nick Gibb
Member of Parliament for Gedling
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Andrew Mitchell
Majority	1,859 (3.9%)
Personal details
Born	17 June 1953 (1953-06-17) City of Westminster, London, England
Nationality	English
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Jacqueline Heaton
Children	1 son, 1 daughter
Residence	Cotgrave
Alma mater	University of Warwick, Trent Polytechnic
Profession	Teacher
Website	vernon-coaker-mp.co.uk

Vernon Rodney Coaker (born 17 June 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gedling since 1997; Coaker was appointed Minister of State for Schools and Learners in June 2009, a post he held until Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister on 11 May 2010. He was appointed to Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in October 2011.

Early life

Coaker went to Drayton Manor Grammar School in London. He studied for an Economics and Politics BA (Hons) at the University of Warwick, then obtained a PGCE at Trent Polytechnic (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 1976–1982, then Head of Department at Arnold Hill School from 1982–1988. From 1989–1995 he was a Senior Teacher at Bramcote Park School. From 1995–1997 he was deputy headmaster at Big Wood School in Bestwood, Nottingham. He is a member of the NUT.

Political career

Coaker served as a district councillor for the Cotgrave Ward in Rushcliffe from 1983–1997, contesting the Rushcliffe constituency seat in 1983. He contested Gedling in 1987 and 1992, before defeating Andrew Mitchell in the 1997 election, becoming the first Labour MP to win the Gedling seat.

Before taking up his present ministerial appointment he was a Minister of State at the Home Office. He became a government whip in May 2005 having been as assistant whip since June 2003. He has taken part in education debates and takes an interest in environmental and animal welfare issues.^{[citation needed]} Prior to joining the government he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell.

Shortly after being appointed Minister for Drugs & Crime Reduction in the May 2006 reshuffle, he revealed to the Coventry Evening Telegraph that, as a student, he had smoked cannabis. This provoked some controversy owing to his new responsibilities.

He supports people taking part in shooting sports and angling.

In January 2010, Mr Coaker apologised for remarks that misled MPs. Mr Coaker had earlier told MPs that 70 police officers were hurt as a result of a Climate Change protest at Kingsnorth power station. In fact, only four injuries involved contact with another person. The 66 others included "wasp sting", "injuries sitting in a car", and "succumbed to sun and heat" etc. The whole operation had involved more than 1000 officers.

Personal life

He married Jacqueline Heaton on 23 December 1978 in Basford and they have a daughter and a son. He supports Tottenham Hotspur. His wife, who is a teacher, was a town councillor in Cotgrave.

External links

• Vernon Coaker website
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Andrew Mitchell	Member of Parliament for Gedling 1997-present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shaun Woodward	Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 2011-present	Incumbent