{{short description|British politician (born 1946)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Use British English|date=December 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ann Coffey | honorific_suffix = | image = Ann Coffey Official Portrait.jpg | office1 = [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] to the [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] | prime_minister1 = [[Gordon Brown]] | term_start1 = 28 June 2007 | term_end1 = 11 May 2010 | chancellor1 = [[Alistair Darling]] | predecessor1 = [[Ann Keen]] | successor1 = [[Greg Hands]] | office2 = [[Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister]] | prime_minister2 = [[Tony Blair]] | alongside2 = [[Bruce Grocott]] | term_start2 = 2 May 1997 | term_end2 = 28 July 1998 | predecessor2 = [[John Ward (Conservative politician)|John Ward]] | successor2 = [[Bruce Grocott]] | office3 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Stockport (UK Parliament constituency)|Stockport]] | term_start3 = 9 April 1992 | term_end3 = 6 November 2019 | predecessor3 = [[Anthony Favell]] | successor3 = [[Navendu Mishra]] | birth_name = Margaret Ann Brown | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|8|31|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Inverness]], Scotland | party = [[Independent politician|Independent]] (since 2019) | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Thomas Coffey|1973|1989|end=div}} * {{marriage|Peter Saraga|1998|2023|end=his death<ref>{{Cite web | title=Professor Peter Saraga OBE CBE FREng CPhys Hon.FInstP (1942-2023) {{!}} Institute of Physics | url=https://www.iop.org/physics-community/obituaries/professor-peter-saraga | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319102104/https://www.iop.org/physics-community/obituaries/professor-peter-saraga | access-date=2026-05-14 | archive-date=2023-03-19}}</ref>}} }} | children = 1 | education = [[Borough Polytechnic Institute]] ([[BSc]])<br />[[Walsall College]] ([[Postgraduate Certificate in Education|PGCE]])<br />[[University of Manchester]] ([[MSc]]) | other_party = [[Change UK]] (2019)<br />[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] (before 2019) | occupation = Politician | caption = Official portrait, 2018 | footnotes = {{Collapsible list |titlestyle = background:lavender;text-align:center; |title = Other offices |bullets = on | March–June 2019: [[Change UK|Change UK Spokesperson for Children and Education]] }} }} '''Margaret Ann Coffey''' (''née'' '''Brown'''; born 31 August 1946)<ref name=whoswho>{{Who's Who |author=Anon|year=2017|| title=COFFEY, (Margaret) Ann | id = U11372 |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.11372| edition = online [[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> is a British former politician who was [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Stockport (UK Parliament constituency)|Stockport]] from [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992]] to [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019]].<ref name=official>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423191340/http://anncoffeymp.com/|publisher=anncoffeymp.com|archive-date=23 April 2015|url=http://www.anncoffeymp.com|title=Ann Coffey MP official website}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,,-1020,00.html |title=Guardian Unlimited Politics—Ask Aristotle: Ann Coffey MP |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908045105/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0%2C%2C-1020%2C00.html |archive-date=8 September 2008 }}</ref><ref name=theyworkforyou>{{cite web|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/ann_coffey/stockport|publisher=[[mySociety|TheyWorkForYou.com]]|title=Ann Coffey MP|access-date=29 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512024219/http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/ann_coffey/stockport|archive-date=12 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/539.stm|title=BBC Politics, Ann Coffey}}{{Dead link|date=September 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A former member of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], she defected to form [[Change UK]].
Coffey resigned from the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] in 2019 in protest at the leadership of [[Jeremy Corbyn]] and, with six others, formed [[Change UK]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47278902|title=Seven MPs leave Labour in Corbyn protest|work=BBC News |date=18 February 2019|access-date=13 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301061322/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47278902|archive-date=1 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Born as Margaret Ann Brown to a [[Royal Air Force]] officer,<ref name=whoswho/> in [[Inverness]], she attended [[Nairn Academy]], Bodmin County Grammar School (which closed in 1973), [[Bushey Grammar School]] and the [[Borough Polytechnic Institute]] in London, where she was awarded a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[Sociology]] in 1969, and was elected vice president of the [[students' union]].<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.politics.co.uk/reference/ann-coffey|title=Ann Coffey|website=politics.co.uk|access-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221165628/http://www.politics.co.uk/reference/ann-coffey|archive-date=21 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
Coffey attended [[Walsall College|Walsall College of Education]] where she was awarded a [[Postgraduate Certificate in Education]] (PGCE) in 1971 and qualified as a teacher,<ref name=autogenerated1 /> and the [[University of Manchester]] where she completed her [[Master of Science]] in psychiatric social work at the [[School of Medicine, University of Manchester|School of Medicine]].<ref name=msc>{{cite thesis |degree=MSc |first=Margaret |last=Ann Wishart Coffey |title=Expressed feeling as a predictor of social worker and client satisfaction |publisher=University of Manchester |date=1979 |url=http://man-fe.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?vid=MU_VU1&doc=44MAN_ALMA_DS21178993050001631 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705172245/http://man-fe.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?vid=MU_VU1&doc=44MAN_ALMA_DS21178993050001631 |archive-date=5 July 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Career== {{BLP sources section|date=February 2019}} Coffey began her career as a trainee [[social worker]] with [[Metropolitan Borough of Walsall|Walsall Social Services]] in 1971. In 1972, she became a social worker at [[Birmingham City Council]], moving to [[Gwynedd County Council]] in 1973 and the [[Metropolitan Borough of Wolverhampton]] in 1974. From there, she went to the [[Metropolitan Borough of Stockport]] in 1975, before moving once more in 1982 to [[Cheshire County Council]]. In 1988, she became the [[foster care|fostering]] team leader for the [[Metropolitan Borough of Oldham]] until her election to [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|parliament]].
===Labour Party=== Coffey was elected as a councillor to [[Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council]] in 1984 and was its Labour group leader 1988–92, stepping down from the council in 1992. She contested the parliamentary seat of [[Cheadle (UK Parliament constituency)|Cheadle]] at the [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987 General Election]], and finished in third place, some 25,000 votes behind the sitting [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP [[Stephen Day (MP)|Stephen Day]]. She was selected to contest the Conservative-held marginal Stockport constituency at the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 General Election]]; she defeated the sitting Conservative MP [[Tony Favell]] by 1,422 votes and has remained the MP for the seat since then. She made her [[maiden speech]] on 12 May 1992.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansrd/1992-05-12/Debate-5.html|title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 12 May 1992|website=publications.parliament.uk|access-date=29 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305202827/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansrd/1992-05-12/Debate-5.html|archive-date=5 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
In her first term in Parliament, Coffey served initially as a member of the [[Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom)|trade and industry]] [[Select committee (United Kingdom)|select committee]], until she was promoted by [[Tony Blair]] to become an Opposition [[Whip (politics)|whip]] in 1995, and Opposition [[Department of Health (United Kingdom)|health]] spokeswoman in 1996.
When Labour won the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 General Election]], Coffey was appointed as [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] (PPS) to the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Tony Blair]]. In 1998, she became PPS to the [[Secretary of State for Work and Pensions]] [[Alistair Darling]] and was his assistant from 2002 to 2006 in his capacity as the [[Secretary of State for Transport]] and thereafter as [[Secretary of State for Trade and Industry]].
Following the resignation of [[Tony Blair]] as Prime Minister on 27 June 2007, Coffey became [[Chancellor of the Exchequer|Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer]], Alistair Darling.
During the [[United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal|expenses scandal]] of 2009, it was revealed that Coffey claimed £1,000 per month for the interest on the mortgage of her London home and £160 per month for a cleaner.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5297606/MPs-expenses-Full-list-of-MPs-investigated-by-the-Telegraph.html|title=MPs' expenses: Full list of MPs investigated by The Telegraph|date=8 May 2009|via=www.telegraph.co.uk|access-date=5 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504015241/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5297606/MPs-expenses-Full-list-of-MPs-investigated-by-the-Telegraph.html|archive-date=4 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/ann-coffey/Ann_Coffey_0809_ACA.pdf | title=Member's claim form | access-date=21 April 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308132208/http://mpsallowances.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/hocallowances/allowances-by-mp/ann-coffey/Ann_Coffey_0809_ACA.pdf | archive-date=8 March 2017 | url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to her salary of £60,000 in 2007 she claimed £150,000 for staff salaries and office costs plus reimbursable expenses.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/ann-coffeys-expenses-919880|title=Ann Coffey's expenses|date=26 May 2009|work=Manchester Evening News|access-date=21 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422124159/http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/ann-coffeys-expenses-919880|archive-date=22 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
Coffey was the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children and Adults. In October 2014, Coffey published a report, ''Real Voices – Child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester'', commissioned by the [[Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner]] in the wake of the [[Rochdale child sex abuse ring|Rochdale child sexual abuse scandal]], which included interviews with children and made 43 recommendations.
After the report, Coffey launched a successful campaign to banish all references to "child prostitution" from UK legislation. She tabled a series of amendments to the [[Serious Crime Act 2015|Serious Crime Bill]] in 2015 to remove all references to child prostitution. She received support from all parties and eventually the government agreed to her proposal and tabled an amendment to substitute all references to child prostitution with child sexual exploitation.
In 2015, Coffey was criticised over voting for airstrikes against Syria.<ref>{{Citation|title=Labour's Ann Coffey reveals abuse she received after Syria vote result| date=3 December 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuQzOhFvRSU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/HuQzOhFvRSU| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|language=en|access-date=11 April 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
In 2017, Coffey wrote a follow-up report, ''Real Voices – Are they being heard?'', which looked at improvements made by the police and other agencies in tackling child sexual exploitation since 2014. The report noted that training and awareness amongst the police and the public had led to significant increases in reporting offences, identification of victims and offenders and intelligence tip-offs.
As chair of the APPG, Coffey has chaired a number parliamentary inquiries including one in June 2012 on the risks faced by children missing from home and care, and another in May 2016 looking into the safeguarding of absent children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://anncoffeymp.com/archives/tag/appg|title=» APPG|access-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112124/http://anncoffeymp.com/archives/tag/appg|archive-date=21 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/who-stockport-mp-ann-coffey-15846620|title=Who is Stockport MP Ann Coffey who has quit the Labour Party?|first=Stuart|last=Greer|date=18 February 2019|website=men}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/social-affairs/children-and-young-people/opinion/house-commons/94960/ann-coffey-mp-thousands|title=Ann Coffey MP: Thousands of "sent away" children in danger|last=PoliticsHome.com|date=8 May 2018|website=PoliticsHome.com|access-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112045/https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/social-affairs/children-and-young-people/opinion/house-commons/94960/ann-coffey-mp-thousands|archive-date=21 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
Coffey went on to conduct a high-profile campaign against the criminal exploitation of children. She maintained that the grooming process for criminal exploitation was very similar to that used for sexual exploitation of children.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/14/small-town-children-at-risk-of-exploitation-by-criminal-gangs-say-mps|title=Small-town children at risk of exploitation by criminal gangs, say MPs|first=Richard|last=Adams|newspaper=The Guardian |date=13 July 2017|via=www.theguardian.com|access-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112428/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/14/small-town-children-at-risk-of-exploitation-by-criminal-gangs-say-mps|archive-date=21 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://anncoffeymp.com/archives/247|title=Middle class children forced to run drugs|date=14 July 2017|access-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221113702/http://anncoffeymp.com/archives/247|archive-date=21 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/vulnerable-middle-class-youngsters-greater-13332334|title=Vulnerable 'middle class' youngsters 'being sent miles away to sell drugs'|first=Todd|last=Fitzgerald|date=15 July 2017|website=men|access-date=13 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112354/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/vulnerable-middle-class-youngsters-greater-13332334|archive-date=21 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
The APPG published a report in July 2017 on children who go missing and are exploited by gangs to sell drugs. Coffey particularly focused on the use of vulnerable children and young people in [[County lines (drug trafficking)|County Lines]] drugs operations, whereby children are groomed by criminals and forced to transport and supply drugs from one area to another.
In January 2018, Coffey conducted an independent survey of all 45 police forces asking if there had been an increase in violence connected to County Lines. Coffey campaigned for the children used and trapped in County Lines to be seen as victims, not criminals and for early interventions by agencies to prevent them becoming embedded in gangs. She also called for more use of the human trafficking and slavery laws, which carry heavy penalties against gangs who use children as drug mules.
Together with [[Margaret Hodge]], she submitted a letter to the [[Parliamentary Labour Party]] chairman requesting a vote on a motion of no confidence in the party leader [[Jeremy Corbyn]] on 25 June 2016, two days after [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|Britain voted to leave the European Union]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2016/06/jeremy-corbyn-faces-no-confidence-motion-and-leadership-challenge|title=Jeremy Corbyn faces no confidence motion and leadership challenge|website=www.newstatesman.com|date=24 June 2016 |access-date=24 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625122651/http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2016/06/jeremy-corbyn-faces-no-confidence-motion-and-leadership-challenge|archive-date=25 June 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>
In November 2018, Coffey called for an inquiry into the use of juries in rape cases.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2018-11-21/debates/8BF93744-89C2-426C-98E3-CF8C9839C028/RapeMythsAndJuries#contribution-F1010989-9FCF-483C-8E78-060EEF15836F|title=Rape Myths and Juries - Hansard|website=hansard.parliament.uk|access-date=6 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206192626/https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2018-11-21/debates/8BF93744-89C2-426C-98E3-CF8C9839C028/RapeMythsAndJuries#contribution-F1010989-9FCF-483C-8E78-060EEF15836F|archive-date=6 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> She also penned opinion pieces in which she suggested juries may be scrapped and replaced in such cases, due to the existence of "rape myths" amongst jurors.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/juries-may-need-to-be-scrapped-because-they-believe-rape-myths-cfl3l9qvf|title=Juries may need to be scrapped because they believe rape myths|last=Coffey|first=Ann|newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=21 November 2018|access-date=6 December 2018|language=en|issn=0140-0460|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206192600/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/juries-may-need-to-be-scrapped-because-they-believe-rape-myths-cfl3l9qvf|archive-date=6 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://labourlist.org/2018/12/ann-coffey-we-must-consider-scrapping-juries-in-rape-trials/|title=Ann Coffey: We must consider scrapping juries in rape trials|date=6 December 2018|website=LabourList|language=en-GB|access-date=6 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206234927/https://labourlist.org/2018/12/ann-coffey-we-must-consider-scrapping-juries-in-rape-trials/|archive-date=6 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Change UK=== {{see also|Antisemitism in the British Labour Party}} On 18 February 2019, Coffey left the Labour Party in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's policies on Brexit and what she described as Labour's failure to deal with [[antisemitism]], and joined [[The Independent Group]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47278902|title=Seven MPs leave Labour in Corbyn protest|work=BBC News |date=18 February 2019|access-date=13 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301061322/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47278902|archive-date=1 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> before leaving parliament in the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]], having announced her departure on [[Twitter]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-50250239|title=Ex-Labour Stockport MP Ann Coffey steps down|work=BBC News|date=31 October 2019|access-date=30 May 2020}}</ref>
==Personal life== She married Thomas Coffey in 1973 in [[Pontefract]] and they have a daughter.<ref name=whoswho/> They divorced in 1989 and she has since remarried to Peter Saraga, vice-chair of the [[University of Sussex]]'s University Council and a former managing director at Philips Research Labs UK.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/54e6de9e0c383719802572b9005141ed/969b1b02f3f61d8a802572ab004b6793?OpenDocument | title=The higher education funding council for England | access-date=21 February 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221224041/https://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/54e6de9e0c383719802572b9005141ed/969b1b02f3f61d8a802572ab004b6793?OpenDocument | archive-date=21 February 2019 | url-status=live}}</ref> Coffey resides in [[Heaton Moor]], Stockport.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070123/halltext/70123h0005.htm|title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 23 Jan 2007 (pt 0005)|website=publications.parliament.uk|access-date=21 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112439/https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070123/halltext/70123h0005.htm|archive-date=21 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} {{UK MP links| parliament = ann-coffey/458 | publicwhip = ann_coffey | theywork = ann_coffey }}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef|before=[[Anthony Favell]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Stockport (UK Parliament constituency)|Stockport]]|years=[[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992]]–[[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019]]}} {{s-aft|after=[[Nav Mishra]]}} {{s-end}}
{{Change UK}} {{Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffey, Ann}} [[Category:1946 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]] [[Category:Alumni of London South Bank University]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Manchester]] [[Category:Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]] [[Category:Councillors in Stockport]] [[Category:UK MPs 1992–1997]] [[Category:UK MPs 1997–2001]] [[Category:UK MPs 2001–2005]] [[Category:UK MPs 2005–2010]] [[Category:UK MPs 2010–2015]] [[Category:UK MPs 2015–2017]] [[Category:UK MPs 2017–2019]] [[Category:People from Nairn]] [[Category:People educated at Nairn Academy]] [[Category:People educated at Queens' School, Hertfordshire]] [[Category:20th-century British women politicians]] [[Category:21st-century British women politicians]] [[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stockport]] [[Category:Change UK MPs]] [[Category:Parliamentary private secretaries to the prime minister]] [[Category:20th-century English women]] [[Category:20th-century English politicians]] [[Category:21st-century English women]] [[Category:21st-century English politicians]] [[Category:Women councillors in England]] [[Category:British political party founders]]