Francis Cook, known as Frank Cook, (born 3 November 1935) British politician. He is the Labour Member of Parliament for Stockton North.

Frank Cook was born in Hartlepool and was educated at the Corby School in Sunderland, the De la Salle College, Manchester, and the Institute of Education, Leeds. He was selected to contest Stockton North at the 1983 General Election. He secured the nomination to stand following the defection of the sitting Labour MP Bill Rodgers who was one of the original gang of four who set up the Social Democratic Party in 1981 along with Roy Jenkins, David Owen and Shirley Williams. Cook won the seat with a majority of 1,870 with Rodgers finishing in third place behind the Conservative candidate. Cook has remained a member of parliament since.

He served as Opposition whip under Neil Kinnock from 1987 to 1992. Cook was married to Patricia Lundrigan in 1959 and they have three daughters and a son, they have since divorced. He is currently a member of the Speaker's Panel of Chairmen. Before his election to the Commons, Cook worked variously as a transport manager at a steelworks, a teacher, and a construction planning engineer. He was a lead campaigner for gun control following the Dunblane massacre in 1996,^{[citation needed]} and it was reported that he once asked the Tory MP Andrew Mackay to 'step outside for a fight'. In the 2005 political year, the Public Whip found Cook to be the 38th most rebellious MP (out of 635) and he has recently become known for his dissent concerning the controversial ID Cards and Racial And Religious Hatred Acts. He has the large former ICI site at Billingham in his constituency and is a proud supporter of Hartlepool FC.

In January 2008, he was de-selected by his local constituency Labour Party when choosing its candidate for the next general election ^{[1][dead link]}.

In May 2009, the Daily Telegraph revealed he had tried to reclaim, as an expense, the £5 he had donated during a service at Stockton Parish Church to commemorate the Battle of Britain. The parliamentary fees office rejected his claim.^[2]

[edit] External links

Wikinews has related news: British MP condemns deportation of man to the Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Frank Cook MP official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Frank Cook MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Frank Cook MP
• The Public Whip - Frank Cook MP voting record
• BBC News - Frank Cook profile 10 February, 2005

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