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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 3 October 2008 |
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| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
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| Preceded by | Jim Murphy |
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| In office 24 January 2008 – 3 October 2008 |
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| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Yvette Cooper |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Beckett |
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Member of Parliament
for Don Valley |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1 May 1997 |
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| Preceded by | Martin Redmond |
| Majority | 8,598 (23.3%) |
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| Born | 20 September 1961 Twickenham, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Phil Cole |
| Alma mater | University of East Anglia |
| Website | www.carolineflint.co.uk |
Caroline Louise Flint (born 20 September 1961 in Twickenham, England) is a British Labour politician. She is the Member of Parliament for Don Valley in South Yorkshire and the Minister of State for Europe.
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Flint was educated at Twickenham Girls School (the school transferred to Waldegrave School for Girls in 1977) in Clifden Road Twickenham and Richmond Tertiary College before earning her BA (Hons) in American Literature and History combined with Film Studies from the University of East Anglia. She joined the Labour Party when 17. She was the Women's Officer of the National Organisation of Labour Students for 1982-4.
She began her career with Inner London Education Authority, as a management trainee from 1984-5 and a Policy Officer from 1985-7. She was head of the Women's Unit at the NUS from 1988-9, before joining Lambeth Council as an Equal Opportunities Officer from 1989-91, and then Welfare and Staff Development Officer from 1991-3. From 1994-1997 she was the Senior Researcher and Political Officer for the GMB Union.
Flint is a member of the Fabian Society and has been an MP since 1997. Along with several other Labour women MPs, she is a member of a tap dancing troupe known as the Division Belles. Other members include Hazel Blears, Laura Moffatt, Meg Munn, Joan Ryan and Dari Taylor.
In 1999, she became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Peter Hain in his capacity as Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office before in 2002 becoming Parliamentary Private Secretary to Dr John Reid, in his capacity as Leader of the House of Commons and Minister without Portfolio.
Whilst working as his PPS she, falsey, accused the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar on Sky News of being engaged in "smuggling on a massive scale". This was not the first time that sources close to Mr Hain had sought to discredit Gibraltar, with grossly misleading and factually incorrect statements, in an attempt to win sympathy for Mr Ried's done deals on sovereignty principles.[1]
She joined the Government in June 2003 as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Home Office, before moving in May 2005 to the Department of Health, with responsibility for Public Health first as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and from May 2006 as Minister of State in the same role.
As Public Health minister she was responsible for managing government programmes concerning radiation exposure, the potential bird flu epidemic, sex education, and the prevention of communicable diseases such as TB and HIV, and oversaw campaigns to tackle obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. She was also due to take charge of the enforcement of the Labour government's ban on smoking in all public places, but was moved just a couple of days before it came into force.
In February 2007, it was announced that she would be Hazel Blears' campaign manager in Blears' campaign for the Deputy Leadership election of the Labour Party following John Prescott's resignation. Blears was did not win, finishing sixth in the Deputy Leadership election, but her conduct during the campaign was rewarded with the Cabinet Post of Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
In the cabinet reshuffle of 29 June 2007 Caroline Flint moved to the Department for Work and Pensions where she served as the Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform. Flint was also appointed to the new position of Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber. On 24 January 2008, Flint was promoted to Minister of State for Housing and Planning, and as a result will now attend cabinet. She relinquished her role as regional minister.
In May 2008 she inadvertently revealed her grim forecast for the future of house prices when she was photographed walking into Downing Street with her briefing papers visible. Close inspection revealed that her document read: "We can't tell how bad it will get." [2]
She was moved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the October 2008 reshuffle, to become Minister of State for Europe.
In July 2001 she married her longtime partner, Phil Cole, a former Labour Party regional officer and P.R. professional. They have three children and live in Flint's South Yorkshire constituency. She has two children from a previous marriage to Tunisian, Saief Zammel. [3]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Martin Redmond |
Member of Parliament for Don Valley 1997 – present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Yvette Cooper |
Minister of State for Housing and Planning 2008 |
Succeeded by Margaret Beckett |
| Preceded by Jim Murphy |
Minister of State for Europe 2008 – present |
Incumbent |
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