A qualified teacher has been named as the education spokesperson for the new Independent Group of MPs.
Ann Coffey had represented Stockport for Labour since 1992 but left the party last month to join the breakaway group of former Labour and Conservative MPs.
Ms Coffey qualified as a teacher in 1971 at Walsall College of Education and became a trainee social worker with the Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council.
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She later moved to social work roles at Birmingham, Gwynedd, Wolverhampton, Stockport, Cheshire and finally Oldham prior to her election to Parliament.
She also served as a councillor in Stockport in 1984-94.
In her letter of resignation from Labour, Ms Coffey noted that “without the Wilson’s government commitment to providing alternative routes to higher education through expanding places in polytechnics I would not have got a degree”.
She cited this as the kind of policy that had originally attracted her to the party.
Ms Coffey has been active in the field of child protection.
She was the author of Real Voices, an independent report into child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester published in October 2014, and its March 2017 follow-up Real Voices - Are They Being Heard?
She is chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Runaway and Missing Children and Adults and has recently campaigned against ’county lines’ drug dealing operations that involve children.
Announcing roles for the group’s MPs, its spokesperson Chukka Umunna said: “Our team is diverse and drawn from different backgrounds, including a former teacher, social worker, lecturer, entrepreneur, solicitor and GP.
“We intend to draw on all the talents and experiences of our group, as we seek to change politics and give the British people a proper alternative to the broken politics being offered by the main political parties.
“We are not a political party and therefore do not have a leader, but the roles and responsibilities we have assigned recognise that all the members of our group have the right to be heard and a responsibility to provide leadership.
“Our structure is designed to be flexible to accommodate any changes as the group evolves and grows.”
