Rosie Cooper

Rosemary Elizabeth Cooper (born 5 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Lancashire since 2005.

Early years

Cooper was born in Liverpool, the daughter of deaf parents. She was educated locally, initially at St Oswald's Roman Catholic Primary School and at Bellerive Convent Grammar School (now known as on Ullet Road (A5089) in Dingle, Liverpool. She then attended the University of Liverpool.

Working life

Cooper originally worked for a company called W. Cooper Ltd 1973-1980 before joining Littlewoods initially as a buyer, when in 1994 she became the public relations manager and then, in 1995, the group corporate communications manager. She became a project coordinator in 1999 before she left Littlewoods in 2001, when she was appointed director at the Merseyside Centre for the Deaf.

Liberal Democrat days

Cooper was elected, aged 22, to the Liverpool City Council as a Liberal councillor in 1973, and in 1992 became the Lord Mayor of Liverpool; she stood down from the city council in 2000.

She fought her first Westminster campaign at the 1983 General Election when she was selected to contest the safe Labour seat of Liverpool Garston where she finished in third place more than 14,000 votes behind the winner Eddie Loyden.

Next Cooper contested the 1986 Knowsley North by-election caused by the resignation to become a television presenter of the Labour MP Robert Kilroy-Silk. The by-election was won by...
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