18th February 2020
Venue: Poole House, PG10, Talbot Campus
Timings: 13:00-14:00 (Room booked 12:30-14:30)
In the 2017 General Election Sophie Cook contested the East Worthing & Shoreham seat, increasing the Labour vote by 114% (21,000) and narrowly missing out on becoming the UK’s first trans MP. When it came to the 2019 general election Sophie stood as an independent MP and based her political beliefs on the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. You will also have the opportunity to hear the reasons why Sophie decided to step down from being one of the candidates for the East Worthing and Shoreham constituency.
Sophie Cook became the first transgender woman to work in football’s Premier League as club photographer for AFC Bournemouth following her transition from Steve to Sophie in the summer of 2015. She has hosted her own TV and radio chat shows and is an experienced broadcaster and is currently Europe’s first trans TV newscaster. Sophie is an in-demand public speaker, delivering keynote talks internationally including a TEDx Talk on change, fear, vulnerability, diversity, mental health and LGBT workshops for high profile organisations such as JP Morgan, Virgin Media, Asda and Stonewall. In 2019 as recognition of her work around mental health Sophie was awarded the title of Doctor of Letters honoris causa by Bournemouth University. Sophie’s autobiography ‘Not Today: How I Chose Life’ which charts her personal journey from despair to redemption and acts as a self-help book for anyone struggling with their mental health and identity is out now. Her second book ‘Not Today: Losing My Addictions’ is due for publication in early 2020.