Cooper was previously the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health,Wellbeing and Social Care from October 2021 to September 2024,spokesperson for Education from September 2020 to October 2021,and the spokesperson for Justice and for Digital,Culture,Media and Sport from January 2020 to September 2020.
Cooper stood in the 2015 Lewes District Council election held on the same day;she was elected to represent the Lewes Bridge ward. Cooper stepped down as a councillor in 2016.[13]
Cooper was elected to Parliament as MP for St Albans at the 2019 general election with 50.1% of the vote and a majority of 6,293.[17][18][19]The Guardian named Cooper as one of the ten new MPs from all political parties to "watch out for".[10]
In January 2020,it was announced Cooper had been appointed as the Liberal Democrats' justice,culture,media and sport spokesperson.[20] In June,she took part in George Floyd protests in Verulamium Park,St Albans,where she gave a speech about police brutality.[21]
In September 2020,Cooper was announced as the party's new deputy leader and education spokesperson.[22]
In May 2021,Cooper was a signatory to an open letter from Stylist magazine,alongside celebrities and other public figures,which called on the government to address what it described as an "epidemic of male violence" by funding an "ongoing,high-profile,expert-informed awareness campaign on men’s violence against women and girls".[23]
In October 2021,Cooper was appointed Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health,Wellbeing and Social Care,a position she would hold into the next general election.[24]
Cooper was re-elected as MP for St Albans at the 2024 general election with an increased vote share of 56.6% and an increased majority of 19,834.[25] During the election period,Cooper had participated in the televised leaders debates.[26]
In the run up to a vote for an opposition amendment on the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill in January 2025,which aimed to set up a national inquiry into grooming gangs,Cooper responded to the view of Shadow Justice SecretaryRobert Jenrick on the issue. In an article in the Daily Telegraph,Jenrick stated that "we have seen millions of people enter the UK in recent years and some of them have backward,frankly medieval attitudes to women," and argued that the grooming gangs scandal "started with the onset of mass migration".[28]
In a post on X,Cooper responded to a BBC Radio 4 Today programme interview with Jenrick on the topic of the grooming gangs,stating that "Robert Jenrick's attempt to exploit this appalling scandal for political gain is completely shameless. He didn't lift a finger to help the victims when a Minister,now he's jumping on the bandwagon and acting like a pound shopFarage." Cooper went on to add that "Kemi Badenoch should sack him as Shadow Justice Secretary and condemn his divisive comments,instead of letting him run a leadership campaign under her nose."[29][30]
A spokesman for Badenoch responded that "Robert Jenrick did an excellent job this morning explaining the pressing need for a national inquiry into the rape gangs scandal. The Liberal Democrats should spend less time worrying about tweets,and instead explain to the British people why they oppose an inquiry that would end the culture of cover ups in our institutions and finally get justice for the victims.”[31]
On 8 January 2025,Jenrick voted for the amendment whilst all Liberal Democrats abstained. The amendment was defeated by 364 votes to 111.[32][33][34]
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