Jeffrey William Rooker, Baron Rooker was born on 5 June 1941 and is a British politician and life peer who served as a government minister from 1997 to 2008.
21 Facts About Jeff Rooker
2.
Jeff Rooker studied at Aston University and the University of Warwick; and he eventually gained a postgraduate degree in industrial relations.
3.
Jeff Rooker resigned the Labour whip in 2009 after being appointed chair of the Food Standards Agency.
4.
Jeff Rooker sat as an independent member in the House of Lords until 2013 when, standing down as chair of the FSA, he took up the Labour whip .
5.
The son of a factory worker, Jeff Rooker attended Aldridge Road Secondary Modern Boys School, Aldridge Road, Great Barr.
6.
Jeff Rooker later attended Handsworth Technical School and College, Goldshill Road, Handsworth.
7.
Jeff Rooker initially trained as a production engineer, working in various factories in and around Birmingham for 14 years and then became a lecturer on the subject at Lanchester Polytechnic.
8.
Jeff Rooker graduated with an undergraduate degree from Aston University in the city of Birmingham and he served as editor of the Birmingham Student Union News from 1963 to 1964.
9.
Jeff Rooker later received a postgraduate degree from the University of Warwick in industrial relations.
10.
Jeff Rooker was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate in October 1971 for his home constituency of Birmingham Perry Barr, which he won in the February 1974 general election.
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Jeff Rooker achieved a measure of national prominence in June 1977 while still a backbencher.
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Jeff Rooker stood down as an MP at the 2001 general election and was created a life peer on 16 June 2001 with the title Baron Jeff Rooker, of Perry Barr in the County of the West Midlands.
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Jeff Rooker then was moved to the Department for Communities and Local Government, where he served as Minister of State for Housing and Planning, then subsequently Minister of State for Regeneration and Regional Development.
14.
On 6 May 2006, Jeff Rooker was appointed Minister of State for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
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Jeff Rooker was a controversial choice as minister responsible for animal welfare due to his well-known pro-hunting views.
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Jeff Rooker later became deputy leader of the House of Lords.
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Jeff Rooker retained both these roles when Gordon Brown became Labour leader and Prime Minister in 2007 and showed himself to be outspokenly in favour of genetically modified foods at the September 2008 Labour Party Conference, when he accused people opposed to GM foods of "ignorance".
18.
Jeff Rooker is a vice president of The Birmingham Civic Society.
19.
In December 2015, Jeff Rooker called for Jeremy Corbyn to be removed as Labour Party leader before 2020.
20.
Jeff Rooker married second wife Helen Hughes on 5 February 2010 in a private ceremony in Christchurch, New Zealand.
21.
Jeff Rooker has a step daughter, Morwenna Hughes, a former shop lifter and heavy drug user turned police officer, and a step Granddaughter, Martha.