Labour have been out of power for 14 years but should they win the upcoming general election they will at least have government experience in Yvette Cooper.
The 55-year-old Scot is a survivor in the party and has held various posts since being first elected as MP in 1997, including shadow home secretary.
She married husband Ed Balls in 1998 and ten years later the couple became the first husband and wife to both be in the Cabinet. She has also had three children with the former shadow chancellor, all while they were both serving in the Commons.
But while Mr Balls lost his seat in 2015, Ms Cooper has kept on as Pontefract and Castleford MP and will defend her seat on July 4.
While it has been all change at Labour in the 14 years since Gordon Brown’s departure, Ms Cooper has been consistent and could be set for another top role should the party win.
Who is Yvette Cooper?
Ms Cooper is Labour’s shadow home secretary and MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford.
Born in Inverness, the 55-year-old mother-of-three began her career as a researcher for Labour, having graduated from Harvard University, and briefly worked for Bill Clinton.
Aged 24, she needed to take time out after suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, which she says gave her an insight into the welfare system.
Of her formative years, she told the BBC: "My dad (Tony) was a full-time trade unionist. My mother came from a mining community so it was a Labour family but we didn't talk about party politics - we talked about issues and ideas.
"I first got involved campaigning against Section 28 (Conservative legislation that banned promotion of homosexuality as a 'pretended family relationship' in schools in England) - and I went with my Dad on the People's March for Jobs when I was 12 or 13."
Ms Cooper has also stood against her own party on nuclear disarmament and is considered politically closer to Tony Blair, who promoted her, than Jeremy Corbyn, who she stood against.
How long has she been an MP?
Ms Cooper has been MP for Pontefract and Castleford since the Labour landslide in 1997 and has remained after the constituency expanded to take in Normanton in 2010.
She will stand again for the Yorkshire seat in 2024, having only won by a narrow 1,276 votes in 2019, but will be confident of reelection considering the national polls favour Labour.
What roles has she had in parliament?
Ms Cooper could have been party leader if she had won the vote in 2015 but lost out to Jeremy Corbyn.
Despite this, she has rarely been off the front benches and is currently shadow home secretary - a role she also held under Ed Miliband’s leadership.
Ms Cooper has held various cabinet roles, listed here:
- Parliamentary under-secretary of state for health: 1999-2002
- Parliamentary secretary to the Lord Chancellor's department: 2002-2003
- Parliamentary under-secretary of state for regeneration and regional development: 2003-2005
- Minister of state for housing and planning: 2005-2008
- Chief secretary to the treasury: 2008-2009
- Work and pensions secretary: 2009-2010
Her shadow cabinet positions have been:
- Shadow work and pensions secretary: 2010
- Shadow foreign secretary: 2010-2011
- Shadow equalities minister: 2010-2013
- Shadow home secretary: 2011-2015
- Chair of the home affairs select committee: 2016-2021
- Shadow home secretary: 2021-2024
Political controversies
As well as her disagreements with Mr Corbyn, Ms Cooper has also defied her one-time boss Harriet Harman in rejecting the Conservatives’ welfare bill.
She has also strongly argued in favour of EU and Nato membership, backing the need for a deal with the union after the Brexit vote.
What has she said about the general election?
Law and order is key to her overall message as shadow home secretary.
She posted on social media: “After 14 years of Tory failure on law and order, communities that are plagued by antisocial behaviour feel like no one comes & nothing is done.”
Ms Cooper has promised to run a "hands-on Home Office" with a focus on cutting crime.
After the recent local elections, she said that the country was “desperate for change”.
She told Sky: “The country is desperate for change and is trusting Labour to deliver it.
“Labour has also been winning on issues of law and order.”
