Jeff Rooker

The Lord Rooker
Official portrait, 2022
Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
In office
1 June 2005 – 5 October 2008
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Gordon Brown
LeaderThe Baroness Amos
The Baroness Ashton of Upholland
Preceded byThe Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
Succeeded byThe Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
Junior ministerial offices
1997–2008
Minister of State for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health
In office
6 May 2006 – 3 October 2008
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Gordon Brown
Preceded byThe Lord Bach
Succeeded byJane Kennedy
Minister of State for Children in Northern Ireland
In office
9 May 2005 – 6 May 2006
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byBarry Gardiner
Succeeded byMaria Eagle
Minister of State for Regeneration and Regional Development
In office
13 June 2003 – 9 May 2005
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byYvette Cooper
Minister of State for Housing and Planning
In office
29 May 2002 – 13 June 2003
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byThe Lord Falconer of Thoroton
Succeeded byKeith Hill
Minister of State for Asylum and Immigration
In office
11 June 2001 – 29 May 2002
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byBarbara Roche
Succeeded byBeverley Hughes
Minister of State for Pensions
In office
29 July 1999 – 7 June 2001
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byStephen Timms
Succeeded byIan McCartney
Minister of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office
6 May 1997 – 29 July 1999
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byTony Baldry
Succeeded byJoyce Quin
Further offices held
Chair of the Food Standards Agency
In office
July 2009 – July 2013
Appointed byHilary Benn
Preceded byDame Deirdre Hutton
Succeeded byHeather Hancock
Member of the House of Lords
Life peerage
21 June 2001
Member of Parliament
for Birmingham Perry Barr
In office
28 February 1974 – 14 May 2001
Preceded byJoseph Kinsey
Succeeded byKhalid Mahmood
Personal details
Born
Jeffrey William Rooker

(1941-07-05) 5 July 1941 (age 83)
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour (since 2013; before 2009)
Independent (2009–2013)
Alma materAston University

Jeffrey William Rooker, Baron Rooker PC (born 5 June 1941) is a British politician and life peer who served as a government minister from 1997 to 2008. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Perry Barr from 1974 to 2001.

Raised and educated in Birmingham, Rooker worked as a production engineer in the city before lecturing in the subject at Lanchester Polytechnic. He studied at Aston University and the University of Warwick; and he eventually gained a postgraduate degree in industrial relations. After unsuccessfully attempting to be elected to Birmingham City Council in 1966, he was elected to the House of Commons at the February 1974 general election and joined the government after the Labour victory at the 1997 general election as Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Upon standing down from the Commons at the 2001 general election, Rooker was later appointed to the House of Lords where he continued to serve in the government under several ministerial portfolios until 2008, including as Deputy Leader of the House of Lords and Minister of State for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health from 2005 to 2008. He resigned the Labour whip in 2009 after being appointed chair of the Food Standards Agency. He 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 once again.