Coaker served as a district councillor for the Cotgrave Ward in
Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire from 1983 to 1997 and was leader of the Labour group on the council between 1987 and 1997. He supported
Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace
Jeremy Corbyn in the
2016 Labour leadership election. He lost his seat in the
2019 general election. In December 2020, it was announced he would be conferred a
life peerage after a
nomination by Labour Party Leader
Keir Starmer. On 22 March 2021, he was introduced to the
House of Lords as
Baron Coaker, of Gedling in the County of Nottinghamshire. He made his maiden speech on 17 May 2021 during the Queen's Speech debate, and was later appointed to the front bench as a Home Affairs and Defence spokesperson.
Expenses scandal Coaker was found to have claimed large sums every month in cash for his second home without submitting any receipts. Over the course of four years, he claimed £3,425 for cleaning, £6,320 for services and maintenance and £5,205 for repairs. This was initially for his semi-detached home in
Cotgrave, and then for his one-bedroom flat in
Kennington in London. A spokesman for Coaker subsequently stated that expenses were claimed in accordance with the rules administered by Commons fees office at the time. Coaker belongs to the
Labour Friends of Israel lobby group. Shortly after being appointed minister for drugs and crime reduction in the May 2006 reshuffle, he revealed to the
Coventry Evening Telegraph that he had had "one or two puffs" of
cannabis as a student but did not enjoy it. His admission was made during a nationwide tour to evaluate the effectiveness of the government's drugs strategy. He also supports people taking part in
shooting sports and
angling. In January 2010, Coaker apologised for remarks that misled MPs. He had earlier told MPs that 70 police officers were hurt as a result of a
global warming protest at
Kingsnorth power station. In fact there were only 12 injuries that were
legally reportable with just four of those involving contact with another person. The remaining eight injuries included "wasp sting", an injury while "sitting in a car", and an officer succumbing "to sun and heat". There were 68 injuries in total with the rest being treated by first-aiders at the scene. The whole operation had involved more than 1,000 officers. ==Personal life==