Yvette Cooper

The Right Honourable Yvette Cooper
Official portrait, 2025
Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 September 2025
Prime Minister	Keir Starmer
Preceded by	David Lammy
Secretary of State for the Home Department
In office 5 July 2024 – 5 September 2025
Prime Minister	Keir Starmer
Preceded by	James Cleverly
Succeeded by	Shabana Mahmood
Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee
In office 19 October 2016 – 1 December 2021
Preceded by	Keith Vaz
Succeeded by	Diana Johnson
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In office 5 June 2009 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	James Purnell
Succeeded by	Iain Duncan Smith
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In office 24 January 2008 – 5 June 2009
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Andy Burnham
Succeeded by	Liam Byrne
Junior ministerial offices Minister of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Shadow cabinet portfolios Member of Parliament for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (2010–2024) Pontefract and Castleford (1997–2010) Incumbent Assumed office 1 May 1997 Preceded by Geoffrey Lofthouse Majority 6,630 (18.4%) Personal details Born 20 March 1969 (aged 57) Inverness, Scotland Political party Labour Spouse(s) Ed Balls ​ ​ (m. 1998)​ Children 3 Parents Tony Cooper (father) Education Balliol College, Oxford (BA) Harvard University London School of Economics (MSc) Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) is a British politician who is currently the Foreign Secretary since 5 September 2025. Before, she was the Home Secretary from 5 July 2024 until 2025. Cooper is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford constituency in the United Kingdom. She is a member of the Labour Party. Her husband, Ed Balls, represents the neighbouring constituency of Morley and Outwood. She served in the Cabinet between 2008 and 2010 under Prime Minister Gordon Brown. She was Chief Secretary to the Treasury and then Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. After Labour lost the 2010 general election, Cooper was appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary, then in 2011 Shadow Home Secretary. Yvette Cooper Media Cooper as Minister for Housing in 2007 Cooper speaking at the 2016 Labour Party Conference Yvette Cooper campaigning with Tracy Brabin in Pontefract in 2021 Official portrait of Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP* * 3×4 portrait of Yvette Cooper Cooper with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the 92nd Interpol General Assembly, 4 November 2024 Ed Balls MP References Other websites Official site Archived 2014-12-21 at the Wayback Machine