A transgender candidate is running as a candidate for the opposition Labour party in Thursday's U.K. election.
Sophie Cook is standing against the Conservative MP Tim Loughton who has held the English south coast seat of East Worthing and Shoreham for two decades.
The 50-year-old Cook says the Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn has been a strong supporter of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.
"Standing as a candidate in this election seems like a natural progression in my lifelong quest for LGBT rights," she wrote in an article on the inews website this week.
A former Royal Air Force engineer, Cook came out as transgender while working as a soccer photographer in 2015.
The mother of three is now a television presenter and LGBT rights advocate.
The LGBT community obtained broad legal protection from discrimination under UK law in 2010.