Sophie Cook
Sophie Cook is a British author, broadcaster, photographer and politician.
Early life
Cook was born in Bournemouth, Hampshire on 4 January 1967.Career
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.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.
Cook used her profile to speak out against the stigma surrounding mental health and bigotry, including an appearance at TEDx Brighton in 2018.
She became a news anchor and TV chat show host for Latest TV in Brighton, becoming the first transgender newscaster in Europe.
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.
Political career
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.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. The selection began again with Cook on the shortlist, but she was not selected. 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.
In 2019, she set up the Sophie Cook Foundation in order to tackle the stigma surrounding mental health in schools, colleges and universities.