Rooker graduated with an undergraduate degree from Aston University in the city of Birmingham and he served as editor of the Birmingham Student Union News (SUN) from 1963 to 1964.[1] He later received a postgraduate degree from the University of Warwick in industrial relations. In 1966, he was an unsuccessful candidate for membership of Birmingham City Council.
Rooker achieved a measure of national prominence in June 1977 while still a backbencher. With fellow MP Audrey Wise, he introduced the so-called Rooker–Wise Amendment to the Budget. This linked personal tax allowances to the rate of inflation, thereby preventing the erosion of non-taxable income. The BBC has described the amendment as "a rare example of direct backbench influence on the Budget".[2]
Beginning in 1998, Rooker led an unsuccessful attempt to prosecute World War II German general Wilhelm Mohnke for his alleged role in war crimes inflicted on British troops at Wormhoudt in 1940.[3]
On 6 May 2006, Rooker was appointed Minister of State for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He was a controversial choice as minister responsible for animal welfare due to his well-known pro-hunting views. In 2007, following Rooker's appointment, numerous complaints from animal welfare campaigners were sent to the Labour Party. He later also became deputy leader of the House of Lords. He retained both these roles when Gordon Brown became Labour leader and Prime Minister in 2007 and showed himself to be outspokenly in favour of genetically modified (GM) foods at the September 2008 Labour Party Conference, when he accused people opposed to GM foods of "ignorance".[5] Rooker stood down in October 2008.[citation needed]
Later career
Rooker is a vice president of The Birmingham Civic Society. As of January 2008, he is a lay governor of Aston University. In July 2009, he was appointed as chair of the Food Standards Agency and resigned the Labour party whip for the duration until he ceased to be chair in 2013.[6]
In December 2015, Rooker called for Jeremy Corbyn to be removed as Labour Party leader before 2020.[7]
Rooker married Angela Edwards in 1972 in Paddington, London. He was widowed in January 2003. He married second wife Helen Hughes on 5 February 2010 in a private ceremony in Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2001, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Aston University of which he is an alumnus.
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