Ann Coffey
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Marilyn Ann Coffey, known as Ann Coffey, (born 31 August 1946) British politician. She is the Labour Member of Parliament for Stockport.
Born Ann Brown, the daughter of a Royal Air Force officer, in Inverness she was educated variously at the Nairn Academy; the Bodmin Grammar School; the Bushey Grammar School; the Polytechnic of South Bank, London (where she was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Sociology 1967 and was elected the vice president of the students' union); the Walsall College of Education (where she received a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and qualified as a teacher; and University of Manchester where she obtained her master's degree (MSc) in psychiatric social work.
She began her career as a trainee social worker with the Walsall Social Services in 1971. In 1972 she became a social worker with the Birmingham City Council, moving to Gwynedd County Council in 1973 and the Metropolitan Borough of Wolverhampton in 1974, then to the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in 1975, moving once more in 1982 to the Cheshire County Council. In 1988 she became the fostering team leader with the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham until her election to parliament.
Politically, Coffey was elected as a councillor to the Stockport Borough Council in 1984 and became its Labour group leader 1988-1992, stepping down from the council in 1994. She conested the parliamentary seat of Cheadle at the 1987 General Election she finished in third place some 25,000 votes behind the sitting Conservative MP Stephen Day. She was selected to contest the Conservative held marginal Stockport constituency at the 1992 General Election and she defeated the sitting Conservative MP Tony Favell by 1,422 and has remained the MP there since. She made her maiden speech on May 12, 1992.[1]
In her first term in Parliament, Coffey served initially as a member of the trade and industry select committee until she was promoted by Tony Blair to become an Opposition whip in 1995 and became an Opposition health spokeswoman in 1996. When Labour won the 1997 General Election, Coffey was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Prime Minister Tony Blair. In 1998, she became PPS to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Alistair Darling and has remained his assistant since, from 2002-2006 in his capacity as the Secretary of State for Transport, and since 2006 as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
Coffey voted for the military intervention in Iraq in 2003 and for the ban on fox hunting. She was married to Thomas Coffey in 1973 and they have a daughter, they divorced in 1989 and she has since remarried. She enjoys photography and painting.
- ePolitix — Ann Coffey official site
- Guardian Unlimited Politics — Ask Aristotle: Ann Coffey MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com — Ann Coffey MP
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Anthony Favell |
Member of Parliament for Stockport 1992 – present |
Incumbent |
Categories: 1946 births | Living people | Current British MPs | Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from English constituencies | Labour MPs (UK) | Alumni of London South Bank University | British female MPs | Councillors in North West England | UK MPs 1992-1997 | UK MPs 1997-2001 | UK MPs 2001-2005 | UK MPs 2005-