Caroline Flint

In 1999, Flint became Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Peter Hain while he was 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, while he was Leader of the House of Commons and Minister without portfolio.[7]

Initially joining the government in June 2003 as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Home Office, Flint was moved 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.[7]

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 tuberculosis and HIV, and oversaw campaigns to tackle obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. She was also due to take ministerial responsibility for implementing the smoke-free workplace regulations in all public places resulting from the Health Act 2006, but was moved just a couple of days before it came into force (on 1 July 2007).

During her tenure at the Home Office, Flint reclassified magic mushrooms as a Class A drug.[12] Flint pushed through the bill[13] despite some challenges and objections from peers and MPs such as Dr Brian Iddon,[14][15] plus disputed use of a scientific study by Swiss academic Dr Felix Hasler.[16][17]

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 did not win, coming sixth in the election.

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.[7] Flint was also appointed to the new position of Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber.[7]

On 24 January 2008, Flint was promoted to Minister of State for Housing and Planning, and as a result would now attend Cabinet meetings.[7] She was also appointed a member of the Privy Council and she relinquished her role as regional minister.[7] In February 2008, Flint suggested that unemployed council tenants should "actively seek work", as a condition of their occupancy.[18] In May that year, she inadvertently revealed grim forecasts 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."[19]

She was moved to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the October 2008 reshuffle, to become the Minister for Europe.[5] On 31 March 2009 she admitted that she had not read the Lisbon Treaty, the document which codifies the rules of the European Union. Critics described her admission as "extraordinary" and "unbelievable," particularly given that the minister's responsibilities include overseeing the introduction of the Treaty.[20]

Flint resigned after the Cabinet reshuffle of 5 June 2009 asserting that Gordon Brown was running a "two-tier government", and believed that she had been treated as "female window dressing" though she had earlier professed her loyalty to the Prime Minister.[21] Flint renewed her attack on Gordon Brown in an Observer newspaper article on 7 June 2009, saying that she was not ashamed of a glamorous photoshoot which had upset Downing Street. She launched a broadside against the Prime Minister, complaining of "this constant pressure, this negative bullying".[22]

In 2005, Flint claimed her constituency home in Sprotbrough in Doncaster as her second home, and a house in outer London as her main home. She sold her outer London home to buy a flat in Victoria, London, in 2006. To buy the flat, Flint claimed £1,000 in solicitor's fees and £12,750 in stamp duty on allowances; the Fees Office paid £7,700 of the claim. The Victoria flat became her second home and her constituency property her main residence.[23][24]

Flint was one of 98 MPs who voted in favour of legislation which would have kept MPs' expense details secret.[25] In an investigation into MPs claims she was ordered by Sir Thomas Legg to repay £572 in over-claimed expenses.[26]

Flint in March 2012

Flint was reelected in the 2010 general election.[27] She served in the Shadow Cabinet of Ed Miliband from 2010 to 2015.

Flint was reelected in the 2015 general election.[28] On 16 May 2015, she announced her intention to seek candidacy for the Labour Party deputy leadership election. Along with Tom Watson, she was seen as being a front runner in the contest.[29] By the time nominations closed on 17 June, Flint had gained 43 MP nominees, second only to Tom Watson, and more than enough to confirm her place in the ballot.[30] She came third.

In the 56th Parliament, Flint was a member of the Public Accounts Committee and the Intelligence and Security Committee, the Administration Committee, the Education Sub-committee, the Education & Employment Committee and the Modernisation of the House of Commons Committee.[31]

During the 2016 European Union membership referendum, Flint campaigned for remain.[32][33] She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn as party leader in the subsequent Labour leadership election.[34]

In October 2017, Flint defied Labour whips on the EU withdrawal bill. She told BBC Radio 4's Today, "I believe Labour's job is to improve this bill, not kill it as it begins its passage through parliament."[35]

In June 2019, Flint said she would be willing to vote to help Boris Johnson pass a Brexit withdrawal agreement.[36]

In October 2019, Flint stated her intention to vote for the Johnson government's EU Withdrawal Agreement, contrary to the Labour party's official stance, citing its alleged inclusion of a "legally binding protection on workers' rights, environmental standards and consumer protection",[37] a claim rebutted as "objectively false as a matter of law" by the Financial Times' legal commentator, David Allen Green.[38]

On 19 October 2019, Flint was one of six Labour MPs, and the only one seeking reselection for the next general election, to rebel against the party line and vote against the Letwin amendment to the government's Brexit deal.[39] She spoke to Isabel Hardman from The Spectator regarding the vote.[40] Many of her constituents praised her for listening to her constituents.[2]

In the November 2019 floods, Flint's constituency was hit with heavy flooding. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn visited Conisborough and Doncaster and viewed the property damage with Flint, calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to declare the floods a national emergency so immediate financial help could be provided to families in need.[41][42]

In November 2019, Flint's daughter spoke out about a man subjecting her mother to malicious mailings for nine months. In 2018, she said one death threat had warned her: "You'll be hanging from a rope".[43]

At the 2019 general election, Flint stood for re-election and was one of the many Labour MPs to be defeated, losing her seat to the Conservatives candidate Nick Fletcher after serving 22 years in Parliament.[44] She blamed Corbyn's leadership for her defeat.[3][45] In her concession speech, Flint told voters that she was "sorry we didn't give you a Labour party you could trust" and attacked the "influential Labour figures, living in North London postcodes, who have brought us to this point." She also declared that, "Labour cannot simply be a party of big cities and university towns, nor just the party of the young or devoted remainers".[46]

In the week after the election, Flint appeared on Sophy Ridge on Sunday and claimed that Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry had said that Brexit voters in Northern England were "stupid".[47] Thornberry appeared on ITV News and accused Flint of "making up shit" about her[48] and threatened to take legal action.[47][49]