John Healey is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Defence since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough, formerly Wentworth and Wentworth and Dearne, since 1997. He previously held various junior ministerial positions under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown from 2001 to 2010.
Born in Wakefield, Healey was educated at Reigate Grammar School and Lady Lumley's School. After attending St Peter's School, he studied at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he received a BA in Social and Political Science in 1982. After university, he worked as a journalist for The House and then as a disability rights campaigner. He later worked in communications and as a campaign manager for various organisations and trade unions. After an unsuccessful candidacy for Ryedale at the 1992 general election, Healey was elected to Parliament as MP for Wentworth in the 1997 general election. He served under Blair as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Adult Skills from 2001 to 2002, as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2002 to 2005 and as Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 2005 to 2007. Under Brown, he served as Minister of State for Local Government from 2007 to 2009, and then in a cabinet-attending role as Minister of State for Housing and Planning from 2009 to 2010.
Following the 2010 general election, he was elected to the Shadow Cabinet and appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Health by Ed Miliband. He stood down from the role in October 2011 and returned to the backbenches. He returned to the shadow cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Housing under Jeremy Corbyn from 2016 to 2020. He endorsed Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election in an unsuccessful attempt to replace Corbyn. After Keir Starmer's election as Labour leader, Healey was appointed Shadow Defence Secretary. During his tenure in the position, he supported Ukraine following its 2022 invasion by Russia, and advocated for higher military spending and closer cooperation with NATO. Following Labour's victory in the 2024 general election, Healey returned to government and was appointed Defence Secretary by Starmer in his ministry.
