Vernon Coaker is Labour MP for Gedling in Nottinghamshire.  He won the seat in 1997, taking it from Conservative Junior Minister Andrew Mitchell with a majority of 3,802.  The seat was retained in June 2001 with a majority of 5,598 and then again in 2005 with a majority of 3,811. In the most recent election (May 2010) Vernon Coaker retained the Gedling seat with a majority of 1,859.

Vernon Coaker was the Minister of State for Schools and learners, he was first appointed to this position in the June 2009 reshuffle. He was previously the Minister of State for Policing, Secruity and Crime. Before being a Minister of State Vernon was the Under-secretary of State in the Home Office.

Prior to this he held the position of a Government Whip, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and has also been Parliamentary Private Secterary to Estelle Morris when she was Secretary of State for Education.  His other main interests are International Development, Foreign Policy, Education, the Environment and Animal Welfare issues.

Before becoming a Minister he was one of UNICEF’s “Special Friends” in Parliament, and in December 1998 he visited Kosovo as part of a delegation to see at first hand the work they were doing as the lead agency for education in the area.  In April 1999 he again went to the former Yugoslavia, visiting refugee camps in Macedonia, again travelling out with UNICEF on a cargo plane carrying emergency aid.  His most recent visit to Kosovo was in June 2000.  In September 2001 he visited Angola to view UNICEF projects providing housing, education and health programmes for children.

Vernon Coaker has a Constituency Office in Daybrook, and is committed to serving the people of Gedling.  He holds at least four surgeries each month around the constituency, and is happy to take up issues on behalf of local people.  He also sees constituents at the constituency office, makes a large number of home visits, and organises “roving surgeries” and “supermarket surgeries” throughout the constituency.Before becoming an MP, Vernon Coaker was Deputy Headteacher at Bigwood School in Nottingham. This was one of four schools that he taught at in the local area. The others were Manvers Pierrepont, Arnold Hill School and Bramcote Park.

He had also pursued an active role in local politics as a Borough Councillor.  He is married to Jackie, and they have a daughter and a son.  In his spare time his interests include sport – he is a keen Spurs fan – walking in the countryside, and current affairs.