John Healey | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_2.jpg) Official portrait, 2024 | |||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Defence | |||||||||||||
| Assumed office 5 July 2024 | |||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Grant Shapps | ||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Housing and Planning | |||||||||||||
| In office 5 June 2009 – 11 May 2010 | |||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown | ||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Margaret Beckett | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Grant Shapps | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough Wentworth and Dearne (2010–2024) Wentworth (1997–2010) | |||||||||||||
| Assumed office 1 May 1997 | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Peter Hardy | ||||||||||||
| Majority | 6,908 (20.4%) | ||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||
| Born | 13 February 1960 Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England | ||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||
| Spouse |
Jackie Bate (m. 1993) | ||||||||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Education | St Peter's School, York | ||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Christ's College, Cambridge (BA) | ||||||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||||||
John Healey (born 13 February 1960) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Defence since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough, previously Wentworth and Wentworth and Dearne, since 1997.
Healey served under Tony Blair as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Adult Skills from 2001 to 2002, as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2002 to 2005, Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 2005 to 2007, and under Gordon Brown as Minister of State for Local Government from 2007 to 2009 and as Minister of State for Housing and Planning from 2009 to 2010.
Following the 2010 general election, he was elected to the Shadow Cabinet and was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Health by Ed Miliband. He stood down from the role in October 2011 and was succeeded by Andy Burnham. He also served as Shadow Secretary of State for Housing from 2016 to 2020 under Jeremy Corbyn, and worked alongside Andrew Gwynne, the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.