Jeff Rooker, Baron Rooker

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Jeffrey Rooker, Baron Rooker, PC (born on June 5, 1941), is a British politician. He was the Labour Party member of parliament for Birmingham Perry Barr until the 2001 general election. He was replaced by Khalid Mahmood and became a life peer with the title Baron Rooker, of Perry Bar in the County of West Midlands.

Rooker has served in a number of junior ministerial posts since 1997, both as an MP and as a member of the House of Lords. These have been in areas as diverse as agriculture, social security, immigration, local government and Northern Ireland. In August 2005 he was appointed as the first Minister for Children in Northern Ireland; he was most recently appointed Minister of State for Sustainable Farming and Food at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on May 6, 2006. He remains chief departmental spokesperson in the Lords for Northern Ireland.

Rooker is from a working class background, his father was a factory worker. He initially trained as a production engineer, working in various factories in and around Birmingham for 14 years and then became a lecturer on the subject. At 25 years old he entered local politics by winning a seat in Birmingham City Council, and in February 1974 he moved on to national politics as MP for Perry Barr.

Lord Rooker is a Vice President of The Birmingham Civic Society