Who is Yvette Cooper and when did she marry Ed Balls?

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LABOUR MP Yvette Cooper and husband Ed Balls became the first married couple to serve together in the cabinet when they got hitched.

Here’s what we know about the female politician.

Labour MP Yvette Cooper is married to former politician Ed Balls

Who is Yvette Cooper?

Yvette Cooper is a Labour politician who has been MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford since 2010.

She has served as MP for Pontefract and Castleford since 1997.

Following her Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree from Oxford, Yvette Cooper undertook postgraduate studies at London School of Economics, graduating in 1981 with an MSc in Economics.

She has long campaigned on the issues of extra help for working parents, tackling child poverty, the promotion of womens rights and family reunion for refugees.

When did Yvette Cooper marry Ed Balls?

Senior Labour party politician Yvette, 49, married Ed Balls on January 10, 1998, in Eastbourne.

The wedding was attended by the cream of new Labour’s political and media set, with reports of who was talking to whom being phoned to Tony Blair’s aides, who were in Tokyo at the time, the New Statesman reported.

Yvette and Ed and have three children together – daughters Ellie and Maddy, and a son called Joel.

They were the first married couple to serve together in the British cabinet.

When did Yvette Cooper become an MP?

Yvette has been an MP since 1997, serving for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford.

She served in the cabinet between 2008 and 2010 a chief secretary to the Treasury before serving as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

when Labour lost the 2010 general election, Yvette was appointed Shadow Foreign Secretary.

She became Shadow Home Secretary a year later.

In May 2015, Yvette announced she would run to be the leader of the Labour party after Ed Milliband resigned.

Yvette came third with 17 per cent of the vote in the first round.

Ed Balls strutting his stuff on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2016

What is Yvette Cooper’s constituency?

Yvette Cooper is the Labour MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford.

The constituency covers Yorkshire and Humber.

What did she say about her husband’s time on Strictly?

In 2016, Ed took part in BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing – partnered with Russian dancer Katya Jones.

But while the former politician was a huge hit with fans on the show, Yvette said her husband’s commitment to the competition affected their home life.

During an interview with Good Morning Britain at the time, she said: “Early on he was doing a lot of practising in the kitchen.

“But the trouble is now that the dances have got wilder and wilder, he just bumps into the kitchen cooker, so it doesn’t work.”

Yvette also suggested herhusband’s newfound passion for dance was part of a “midlife crisis”.

Speaking at the launch of his book, Speaking Out, in September 2016, she said: “Be it the marathons, the football club, or the early morning piano practice, and now the dancing, the family have now go to the point of thinking: ‘do you know what, Ed, just get on with it and buy the sodding motorbike.”