Caroline Flint | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2017 | |
| Minister of State for Europe | |
| In office 3 October 2008 – 5 June 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Jim Murphy |
| Succeeded by | The Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead |
| Minister of State for Housing and Planning | |
| In office 24 January 2008 – 3 October 2008 | |
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Yvette Cooper |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Beckett |
| Minister of State for Employment | |
| In office 28 June 2007 – 24 January 2008 | |
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Jim Murphy |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Timms |
| Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber | |
| In office 28 June 2007 – 24 January 2008 | |
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Rosie Winterton |
| Minister of State for Public Health | |
| In office 10 May 2005 – 28 June 2007 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Melanie Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Dawn Primarolo |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs | |
| In office 13 June 2003 – 10 May 2005 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | The Lord Filkin |
| Succeeded by | Andy Burnham |
| Member of Parliament forDon Valley | |
| In office 1 May 1997 – 6 November 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Martin Redmond |
| Succeeded by | Nick Fletcher |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1961-09-20)20 September 1961 (age 64) Twickenham,Middlesex, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | University of East Anglia (BA) |
Caroline Louise Flint (born 20 September 1961) is a British politician who served asMember of Parliament (MP) forDon Valley from 1997 to 2019. A member of theLabour Party, she attended theCabinet asMinister for Housing and Planning in 2008 andMinister for Europe from 2008 to 2009.
One of101 female Labour MPs elected at the1997 general election, Flint served in the government ofTony Blair as a juniorHome Office Minister from 2003 to 2005 andPublic Health Minister from 2005 to 2007. She remained in government underGordon Brown as bothEmployment Minister and aRegional Minister from 2007 until 2008, when she was promoted to the Cabinet. She resigned in 2009, citing disagreement with the leadership of the Prime Minister.
Flint waselected to the shadow cabinet following Labour's 2010 election defeat, and appointedShadow Communities and Local Government Secretary by opposition leaderEd Miliband. She wasShadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary from 2011 to 2015, and finished third-place in the2015 deputy Labour leadership contest. Flint returned to thebackbenches in 2015 and was defeated in her seat at the2019 general election.
Caroline was born on 20 September 1961 at a home for unmarried mothers inTwickenham,Middlesex. Her mother, Wendy Beasley, was a typist who gave birth to her at 17-years old.[1][2] Caroline never knew her father's identity, but she was adopted at 2 year-old by TV technician Peter Flint after he married her mother. She grew-up in a one-bedroom flat with her parents and half-brother and sister, but lost contact with Peter after he divorced her mother during her early teens. After becoming a heavy drinker, Wendy died from liver failure at the age of 45.[2]
She was educated atTwickenham Girls' School andRichmond Tertiary College.[3] Flint earned aBachelor of Arts from theUniversity of East Anglia in American Literature/History with Film Studies.[4] She joined theLabour Party in 1979 and served as women's officer for theNational Organisation of Labour Students from 1982 to 1984.[5]
Flint began her career at theInner London Education Authority, where she was management trainee from 1984 to 1985 and policy officer from 1985 to 1987.[6] She was head of the women's unit at theNational Union of Students from 1988 to 1989. Flint worked atLambeth Council as an equal opportunities Officer from 1989 to 1991, and a welfare and staff development officer from 1991 to 1993.[6] She was a senior researcher and political officer for the trade unionGMB from 1994 to 1997.[6]
Flint was elected asMember of Parliament (MP) forDon Valley at the1997 general election.[5] She was re-elected at the2001,2005,2010,2015 and2017 general elections.[7][8] She is a member of theFabian Society and ofLabour Friends of Israel.[9][10]
Flint becameparliamentary private secretary (PPS) toPeter Hain in 1999, while he was aMinister of State at theDepartment of Trade and Industry andForeign Office. She changes roles to become PPS toJohn Reid in 2002, while he served asLeader of the House of Commons andMinister without portfolio.[5]
She entered government as a junior minister in June 2003, as aParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs. During her tenure at theHome Office, Flint reclassifiedmagic mushrooms as aClass A drug.[11] She pushed through the bill despite some concerns from Parliamentary colleagues.[12][13]
Flint was moved to thePublic health portfolio at theDepartment of Health in May 2005, initially as aParliamentary Under-Secretary of State and as aMinister of State from May 2006.[5] As a health minister, she was responsible for government programmes such as the prevention of communicable diseases andsex education. She oversaw campaigns to tackle issues such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
In the2007 deputy Labour leadership election, Flint was the campaign manager for cabinet ministerHazel Blears. Her bid was unsuccessful, and she finished sixth-place in the election.
AfterGordon Brown became Prime Minister, Flint moved to theDepartment for Work and Pensions asMinister for Employment and Welfare Reform.[5] She was also appointed to one of the new regional ministerial roles, as Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber.[5]
In January 2008, Flint was promoted to attend theCabinet of the United Kingdom asMinister of State for Housing and Planning. She was also appointed to thePrivy Council.[5] During her tenure in the role, Flint suggested unemployed council tenants should "actively seek work" as a condition of their occupancy.[14] She once inadvertently revealed house price forecasts when her briefing papers were visible to the press.[15]
Flint moved roles to becomeMinister of State for Europe in the October 2008 government reshuffle. Although remaining a Cabinet attendee, she was now only entitled to attend when her brief was on the agenda.[3] Flint notably oversaw the implementation of theLisbon Treaty into UK law in her role, and was criticised for admitting to not fully reading the document.[16]
She resigned from government after the June 2009 reshuffle, asserting that Brown ran a "two-tier government" and treated her as "female window dressing".[17] Flint renewed her attack on Brown in a subsequentObserver article, complaining of "constant pressure" and "negative bullying".[18]
In an investigation following the2009 expenses scandal, she was required to repay £572 in over-claimed expenses.[19] Flint voted in-favour of legislation which would have kept MPs' expense details secret.[20]
Following Labour's defeat at the2010 general election, Flint waselected to the shadow cabinet in October 2010. She was appointedShadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government by party leaderEd Miliband,[21] and reshuffled toShadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in October 2011. Flint abstained on the 2011 Commons vote onmilitary intervention in Libya.[22]
Following the2015 general election, she stood as a candidate in thedeputy Labour leadership election. Seen as an early front-runner, she gained 43 MP nominations but finished third-place.[23][24]
In the2015 Parliament, Flint was a member of thePublic Accounts Committee,Intelligence and Security Committee,Administration Committee, Education Sub-Committee, Education and Employment Committee, and Modernisation of the Commons Committee.[25]
She campaigned for Remain during the2016 EU referendum, in opposition to her leave-voting constituency.[26][27] Following the vote, Flint called for acceptance of the result to "allow the voices of her constituents to be heard".[28] She supportedOwen Smith in the failed attempt to replaceJeremy Corbyn in the subsequentLabour leadership election.[29]
Flint was a frequent rebel against the Labour leadership's Brexit position, defying the party whip on several votes to support the government and oppose pro-EU bills and amendments.[30][31] She was one of six Labour MPs to vote in favour of Prime MinisterBoris Johnson'sBrexit withdrawal agreement.[32][33][28]
Following flooding in her constituency inNovember 2019, she called on the Prime Minister to declare a national emergency to provide financial help to affected families.[34][35]
Flint lost her seat at the2019 general election toConservative candidateNick Fletcher.[36] She attributed the defeat to Corbyn's leadership,[37][38] criticising the party for losing public trust and being too city-centric and anti-Brexit.[39] In a later interview, she claimed that shadow cabinet ministerEmily Thornberry had called northern Brexit voters "stupid".[40] Thornberry denied the allegation and threatened legal action against Flint.[41] Following her election defeat, she was described by Prime MinisterBoris Johnson as "first-rate" and mentioned by Cabinet MinisterMichael Gove as the Labour Leader he would have feared most.[42][43]
Flint was appointed to chair theHumber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust in May 2021 andCommittee on Fuel Poverty in January 2022.[44][45]
She made several appearances onGB News from August 2021,[46] but ceased to appear several months later.[47]
Flint's first marriage was to Saief Zammel, a Tunisian stockbroker, with whom she had a son, Karim, and daughter,Hanna.[48][49] In 1990, she divorced Zammel, who was charged with violent disorder and later deported from England after an incident involving her.[50]
She remarried to Phil Cole, aPR professional and former Labour Party officer, in July 2001. Flint later employed him as her constituency office manager, and he has been a Member ofDoncaster Council since 2012.[51][52] They reside inSprotbrough, South Yorkshire.[53][54]
Along with several other Labour women MPs, she was a member of atap dancing troupe known as the Division Belles.[55]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forDon Valley 1997–2019 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Public Health 2005–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Employment 2007–2008 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber 2007–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Housing and Planning 2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Europe 2008–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 2010–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 2011–2015 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
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