Rachel Hopkins | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |||||||||
| Member of Parliament forLuton South and South Bedfordshire Luton South (2019–2024) | |||||||||
| Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Gavin Shuker | ||||||||
| Majority | 6,858 (17.9%) | ||||||||
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| Member ofLuton Council | |||||||||
| In office 5 May 2011 – March 2021 | |||||||||
| Ward | Barnfield (2011–2019) High Town (2019–2021) | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Umme Ali | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | Rachel Louise Hopkins (1972-03-30)30 March 1972 (age 53) Luton,Bedfordshire, England | ||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||
| Parent |
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| Relatives | Harold Hopkins (grandfather) | ||||||||
| Website | rachelhopkins | ||||||||
Rachel Louise Hopkins (born 30 March 1972)[1] is a BritishLabour politician who has served asMember of Parliament (MP) forLuton South and South Bedfordshire, formerlyLuton South, since2019.[2]
Hopkins was a Member ofLuton Borough Council from 2011 to 2021, on which she served as Executive Member for Public Health.[3][4] She served as Shadow Minister for theCabinet Office from 2021 to 2023.
Rachel Hopkins was born on 30 March 1972 inLuton and Dunstable University Hospital,Luton, and raised inBiscot. Her father,Kelvin, served asLabour MP forLuton North from 1997 to 2019. Her grandfather,Harold, was a physicist twice nominated for aNobel Prize. She attendedDenbigh High School and thenLuton Sixth Form College, before going on to study at theUniversity of Leicester. Her first full-time job was atTSB Bank. She later studied part-time for a master's degree from theUniversity of Bedfordshire.[5]
Hopkins previously worked at theElectoral Commission and theHuman Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.[6] She has been a governor forLuton Sixth Form College since 2014.[5]
Hopkins served onLuton Borough Council fromMay 2011 until her resignation in March 2021,[7] and was Executive Member for Public Health on the council.[3]
On Friday 1 November 2019, she was selected as theLabour candidate forLuton South. She was selected by a panel of four, rather than by the local membership.[8][3] At the2019 general election, Hopkins was elected to Parliament as MP for Luton South with 51.8% of the vote and a majority of 8,756.[2][9]
Hopkins is considered to be on the left of the Labour Party, and joined theSocialist Campaign Group upon her election to Parliament.[3] In May 2024,PoliticsHome reported that she had left the Campaign Group.[10]
She voted forBrexit in the2016 EU referendum, making her one of the few known Labour MPs to have done so.[11]
Hopkins was appointedParliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to theShadow Women and Equalities Secretary,Marsha de Cordova, in May 2020.[12] Hopkins resigned from the position to vote against theCovert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill, rebelling against the Labour whip.[13] She became a PPS once again in May 2021, this time toShadow Defence SecretaryJohn Healey.[14]
Hopkins was appointed as a ShadowCabinet Office Minister in the December 2021 opposition front bench reshuffle. She was appointed Shadow Minister for Veterans and Defence people in July 2022.
In November 2023, she resigned from the frontbench to vote for a ceasefire in Gaza.[15]
Due to the2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Hopkins' constituency of Luton South was abolished, and replaced withLuton South and South Bedfordshire. At the2024 general election, Hopkins was elected to Parliament as MP for Luton South and South Bedfordshire with 35.4% of the vote and a majority of 6,858.[16]
Hopkins is a co-sponsor ofKim Leadbeater'sTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill onassisted suicide.[17]
She currently lives inHigh Town, Luton with her partner, Iain Sinclair. She was previously married but now divorced.[5]
Ahumanist, she was elected Vice Chair of theAll-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group in 2022.[18]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLuton South 2019–present | Incumbent |