Rt Hon Yvette Cooper, MP for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley
Yvette Cooper has been an MP since 1997. Currently: Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
Roles and committees
Posts held in government or opposition, and committee seats, as Parliament records them.
In government
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Department of Health and Social Care) | 2026 to now | Now |
| Foreign Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) | 2025 to 2026 | |
| Home Secretary (Home Office) | 2024 to 2025 | |
| Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Department for Work and Pensions) | 2009 to 2010 | |
| Chief Secretary to the Treasury (HM Treasury) | 2008 to 2009 | |
| Minister of State (Department of Communities and Local Government) (Housing) (Department for Communities and Local Government) | 2007 to 2008 | |
| Minister of State (Department of Communities and Local Government) (Housing and Planning) (Department for Communities and Local Government) | 2006 to 2007 | |
| Minister of State (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) (Housing and Planning) (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) | 2005 to 2006 |
Show the other 3
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) (Regeneration and Regional Developement) (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) | 2003 to 2005 | |
| Parliamentary Secretary (Lord Chancellor's Department) (Lord Chancellor's Department) | 2002 to 2003 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health) (Department of Health) | 1999 to 2002 |
In opposition
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department (Home Office) | 2021 to 2024 | |
| Shadow Home Secretary (Home Office) | 2011 to 2015 | |
| Shadow Minister (Equalities Office) (Women and Equalities) (Government Equalities Office) | 2011 to 2013 | |
| Shadow Foreign Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities (HM Official Opposition) | 2010 to 2011 | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Department for Work and Pensions) | 2010 |
Committees
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Liaison Committee (Commons) | 2020 to 2021 | |
| National Security Strategy (Joint Committee) | 2020 to 2022 | |
| Home Affairs Committee | 2020 to 2021 | |
| Liaison Committee Sub-committee on the effectiveness and influence of the select committee system | 2019 | |
| Liaison Committee (Commons) | 2017 to 2019 | |
| National Security Strategy (Joint Committee) | 2017 to 2019 | |
| Home Affairs Committee | 2017 to 2019 | |
| National Security Strategy (Joint Committee) | 2016 to 2017 |
Show the other 3
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Liaison Committee (Commons) | 2016 to 2017 | |
| Home Affairs Committee | 2016 to 2017 | |
| Education & Employment | 1997 to 1999 |
Political Interests
Source: UK Parliament Members API · Parliament’s own page
Declared interests
MPs must publish certain paid work, gifts, donations and other interests. This is a record of what they declared, not a suggestion that anything is wrong.
Yvette Cooper has 4 interests currently registered.
| Type | What was registered | Registered |
|---|---|---|
| Employment and earnings - Ad hoc payments | Payment received on 28 April 2026 - £758.06 | 14 May 2026 |
| Employment and earnings - Ad hoc payments | Payment received on 28 October 2025 - £643.01 | 5 Nov 2025 |
| Gifts, benefits and hospitality from UK sources | Barbara Follett - £2,350.00 | 21 Oct 2025 |
| Employment and earnings | Writing a book - Conville and Walsh | – |
Source: Register of Members’ Financial Interests · Parliament’s own page
Questions
MPs can ask ministers questions in writing. The questions show what an MP is working on, which votes cannot.
Yvette Cooper has not asked any written questions in the last 12 months. Government ministers cannot ask them, so this can simply reflect an MP’s role.
Source: Written Questions API · Updated 4 Oct 2026
Expenses
MPs claim back money for running an office and working in two places. An independent body, IPSA, publishes every claim. This is what was paid in 2025-26.
72 claims. For comparison, across the 657 MPs in IPSA’s file the middle MP was paid £18,469 and the average was £19,699.
Source: IPSA, individual business costs data · About this data
Election result and area
Yvette Cooper represents Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley. Here is who won there at the last general election, and a few numbers about the area.
Labour
votes ahead of second place
of people who could vote did
Yvette Cooper won with 48% of the votes, and John Thomas (Reform UK) came second with 29%.
Votes for each party
Every candidate
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yvette Cooper | Labour | 17,089 | 47.5% |
| John Thomas | Reform UK | 10,459 | 29.1% |
| Laura Weldon | Conservative | 5,406 | 15.0% |
| Olli Watkins | Green Party | 1,651 | 4.6% |
| Jamie Needle | Liberal Democrat | 1,213 | 3.4% |
| Trevor Lake | Social Democratic Party | 139 | 0.4% |
2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.
Your area at a glance
Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.
How they vote
In the last 12 months Yvette Cooper took part in 70 Commons votes.
More detail on how they vote
Yvette Cooper voted the same way as their party in 68 of the 68 votes where parties gave instructions (100%), and went the other way in 0.
What does this mean?
Parties tell their MPs how to vote. Most MPs usually follow that. A high or low count says nothing on its own about whether an MP is good or bad, and we do not rank MPs by it. We only count votes where parties gave instructions, not free votes. How we count it
Recent votes
| Date | Vote | They voted | Compared with party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep | End of life for terminally ill adults: the first main vote | For | Free vote |
| 11 Sep | A vote to end a debate | For | Free vote |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
See every vote on Parliament’s site
Has this changed over time?
View data table
| Month | This MP | Party average |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Nov 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Dec 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Jan 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Mar 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Apr 26 | 100% | 100% |
| May 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jun 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jul 26 | 100% | 99% |
| Sep 26 | 100% | 100% |
Source: Commons Votes API
This page states what the record shows. It does not say why an MP voted as they did. How we calculate this