Sophie Cook (born 4 January 1967) is a British author, broadcaster, photographer and politician. [1] [2]
Cook was born in Bournemouth, Hampshire (now Dorset) on 4 January 1967.
Cook was a jet engine technician in the Royal Air Force from 1983 to 1991. She served on Tornado aircraft and in 1985, at the age of 18, saved the life of a colleague following an explosion on an aircraft. [3]
After spending most of the 1990s in Saudi Arabia, she returned to the UK in 1998 where she became a photographer with a varied portfolio, including stints as club photographer at AFC Bournemouth and a long connection to Peter Doherty and The Libertines. [4]
Cook used her profile to speak out against the stigma surrounding mental health and bigotry, including an appearance at TEDx Brighton in 2018. [5]
She became a news anchor and TV chat show host for Latest TV in Brighton, becoming the first transgender newscaster in Europe. [6]
Her autobiography, Not Today: How I Chose Life, was released in 2018 as a self-help book for those struggling with mental health or identity. [7] [4]
In 2017, Cook stood as the Labour general election candidate in East Worthing and Shoreham, where she came second with 39.3% of the vote. [8] [9]
Supported by the activist group Momentum and trade union Unite the Union, she sought the Labour Party's nomination to stand again in the 2019 general election. She was removed from the shortlist over questions about the bankruptcy of a previous company she ran, but the process was stopped after the other two candidates withdrew in protest. [10] [11] The selection began again with Cook on the shortlist, but she was not selected. [12] She stood as an independent candidate instead, but withdrew from active campaigning, citing harassment that she was receiving and its effect on her mental health as the reason for doing so. [13]
In 2019, she set up the Sophie Cook Foundation in order to tackle the stigma surrounding mental health in schools, colleges and universities. [14]
Cook is a transgender woman, and began to transition in 1998. Having struggled with her gender identity from childhood and with her mental health, notably posttraumatic stress disorder, self harming and suicidal ideation both during and after her military service, Cook transitioned in July 2015 while working at AFC Bournemouth. In doing so, she became the first transgender person to work in Premier League football. [15] [16]
Cook was awarded an honorary doctorate by Bournemouth University for her work raising awareness of mental health issues in November 2019, [17] and invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in 2020. [18] In 2020 Cook was recognised for her campaigning on behalf of the LGBT community by the British LGBT Awards with the Outstanding Contribution to LGBT+ Life Award. [19]
Sussex is an area within South East England which was historically a kingdom and, later, a county. It includes the ceremonial counties of East Sussex and West Sussex.
Timothy Paul Loughton, is a British politician and former banker who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Worthing and Shoreham from 1997 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families from 2010 to 2012 and has twice served as the Acting Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee in 2016 and 2021, following the respective resignations of Keith Vaz and Yvette Cooper.
East Worthing and Shoreham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Tom Rutland of the Labour Party.
The Brighton, Hove & District Football League was a football competition involving teams in and around Brighton, Hove and Worthing, in England. The league was established in 1903 and reached ten divisions in size by 1967. However, with the number of clubs slowly decreasing and the league reduced to only two divisions between 2011 and 2013, a merger with the Worthing & District League began in 2014, initially with a combined Premier Division. The merger was completed in 2015 with the establishment of the Brighton, Worthing & District League.
Shoreham Football Club is a football club based in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England. The club is affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. They are currently members of the Southern Combination Premier Division and their home stadium is Middle Road. The club are nicknamed "The Musselmen" after the town's ancient mussel picking tradition. The club's home kit is all royal blue with white trim, and the away kit is all red with white trim.
Steyning Town Community Football Club is a football club based in Steyning, West Sussex, England. The club is an FA Charter Standard community club, affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. The club are currently members of the Isthmian League South East Division and play at the Shooting Field.
Northbrook College is a further education and higher education college that is part of the Chichester College Group.
Steve Anthony Cook is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for EFL Championship club Queens Park Rangers.
The Sussex Rugby Football Union is the society responsible for rugby union in the county of Sussex, England and is one of the constituent bodies of the national Rugby Football Union.
Southlands Hospital is a medical facility based in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, England, which serves people living in Shoreham itself as well as Worthing and other towns and villages along the south coast and in the inland areas of West Sussex. It is managed by the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust. The building is served by Brighton & Hove bus routes 2, 59, 59A and 98.
Maria Colette Caulfield is a former British politician. She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women's Health Strategy and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women from October 2022 to July 2024.
Lloyd Cameron Russell-Moyle is a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Kemptown from 2017 to 2024. He sat as a Labour and Co-operative MP throughout his time in office. He was a member of the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus.
Munroe Bergdorf is an English model and activist. She has walked several catwalks for brands including Gypsy Sport at both London and NYC Fashion Weeks. Bergdorf was the first transgender model in the UK for L'Oréal, but was dropped within weeks after a racial row. In February 2018, she was appointed as an LGBT adviser to the Labour Party, but resigned the following month. Bergdorf appeared in the Channel 4 documentary What Makes a Woman, which aired in May 2018.
Zoe O'Connell is a British Liberal Democrat politician, and a prominent campaigner for transgender rights.
Sarah Garfinkel is a British neuroscientist and Professor of neuroscience and psychiatry based at the University of Sussex and the Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Her research is focused on the link between interoception and emotion and memory. In 2018, she was selected as one of 11 researchers on the Nature Index 2018 Rising Stars.
Football in Sussex refers to the sport of association football in relation to its participation and history within Sussex, England. Football is one of the most popular sports in Sussex with over 500 football clubs and 38,000 players in the county.
Melissa Ede (25 September 1960 – 11 May 2019) was an English transgender rights campaigner and social media personality. Ede knew that she was transgender from an early age. Her gender reassignment surgery was completed in 2011 and she subsequently received media attention.
The 2019–20 Southern Combination Football League season was the 95th in the history of the competition, which lies at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system.
The following is a timeline of the history of the borough of Worthing, West Sussex, England.
...Former Shoreham Labour candidate Sophie Cook discusses being the first transgender person to work in the Premier League, transitioning and her vision for the county
...Cook will be fighting to claim the seat in East Worthing and Shoreham for Labour on 8 June.