Rosie Cooper

Rosie Cooper began her political career as a Liberal and Liberal Democrat before defecting to the Labour party in 1999. With a background in public relations and communications, she became a Liberal councillor at Liverpool City Council in 1973, going on to serve as lord mayor of Liverpool. Cooper made several attempts to enter parliament as a Liberal and a Liberal Democrat before being elected Labour MP for West Lancashire in 2005. She has served as parliamentary private secretary to Ben Bradshaw during his time as health minister and culture secretary, and she is currently a member of the Health and Social Care Committee. In 2017, Cooper was the target of an unsuccessful murder plot, organised by individuals associated with a Neo-Nazi organisation; she commented: “I think it’s awful that any public servant – teacher, nurse, doctor, police, MP – should be targeted and threatened with violence simply because of the job they do.” A remainer, Cooper voted against Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement at the first two votes, but at the third was one of just five Labour MPs who backed the deal. In the 2020 Labour party leadership election, Cooper backed Lisa Nandy.