Vernon Coaker - Political Career

Political Career

Coaker served as a district councillor for the Cotgrave Ward in Rushcliffe from 1983–1997, contesting the Rushcliffe constituency seat in 1983. He contested Gedling in 1987 and 1992, before defeating Andrew Mitchell in the 1997 election, becoming the first Labour MP to win the Gedling seat.

Before taking up his present ministerial appointment he was a Minister of State at the Home Office. He became a government whip in May 2005 having been as assistant whip since June 2003. He has taken part in education debates and takes an interest in environmental and animal welfare issues. Prior to joining the government he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell.

Shortly after being appointed Minister for Drugs & Crime Reduction in the May 2006 reshuffle, he revealed to the Coventry Evening Telegraph that, as a student, he had smoked cannabis. This provoked some controversy owing to his new responsibilities.

He supports people taking part in shooting sports and angling.

In January 2010, Mr Coaker apologised for remarks that misled MPs. Mr Coaker had earlier told MPs that 70 police officers were hurt as a result of a Climate Change protest at Kingsnorth power station. In fact, there were only 12 injuries that were legally reportable with just four of those involving contact with another person. The remaining eight injuries included "wasp sting", an injury while "sitting in a car", and an officer succumbing "to sun and heat". There were 68 injuries in total with the rest being treated by first aiders at the scene. The whole operation had involved more than 1,000 officers.