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Anna Coote is an English writer, editor, policy analyst and policy advocate who is Principal Fellow at the
New Economics Foundation The New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a Great Britain, British think-tank that promotes "social, economic and environmental justice". NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) with the aim of working for a "new m ...
. She has been a lifelong political activist in support of civil rights, women’s rights, social justice and sustainable development.


Early life: student editor and activist

Anna Mary Coote was born on 1 April 1947 to John Coote and Silvia Syson. Her father, then a captain in the Royal Navy, was frequently reposted, both around the UK and for two years in Washington D.C., so Anna and her sisters were educated at several different schools. From 1965 she read Modern History and Politics at
Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...
where she edited the student newspaper, ''The Student''. Coote played an important role in bringing about student reforms and the resignation of
Malcolm Muggeridge Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (24 March 1903 – 14 November 1990) was a conservative British journalist and satirist. His father, H. T. Muggeridge, was a socialist politician and one of the early Labour Party Members of Parliament (for Romford, i ...
, the Rector of the university, in 1968. The Students' Representative Council had passed a motion calling on the Student Health Service to provide the
contraceptive Pill Oral contraceptives, abbreviated OCPs, also known as birth control pills, are medications taken by mouth for the purpose of birth control. The introduction of the birth control pill ("the Pill") in 1960 revolutionized the options for contraception, ...
to female students on request and to provide free information on contraception. The next issue of ''The Student'' called on Muggeridge to support the SRC's demand. Muggeridge attacked the motion for promoting promiscuity and announced his resignation from the pulpit of
St Giles' Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral (), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; ...
in January 1968.


Working and political life


1968-79: journalist and author

Coote left Edinburgh early with an Ordinary degree to work as a journalist at ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'' newspaper from 1968-71. In 1971 she became staff writer on Ink, an alternative weekly newspaper founded by Richard Neville. At Ink,she covered the six-week-long '' Oz trial'', in which Neville and his co-editors of the British underground magazine ''Oz'' were prosecuted on three charges, including obscenity. She then became a freelance journalist, contributing to the Evening Standard, the Guardian, the Sunday Times and other newspapes and magazines. This period saw her involvement in civil rights, the
National Council for Civil Liberties Liberty, formerly, and still formally, called the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), is an advocacy group and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, which challenges unjust laws, protects civil liberties and promotes huma ...
(NCCL) and the emerging women’s movement. She co-founded Women's Report, a weekly feminist newspaper and co-authored two
Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...
guides, to Civil Liberty in 1972, () and Women’s Rights in 1974.()


1978-89: editor and campaigner

Coote was appointed Deputy Editor of the ''
New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'' from 1978-1982. In 1982 she published with Beatrix Campbell a history of women's liberation in the 1970s, an account of its achievements and failures and a strategy for the future. In 1982 Coote and Tess Gill came to prominence in the El Vino case. They were the first to successfully challenge the policy of the
El Vino El Vino, also known as El Vino's, is a wine bar and off-licence in London's Fleet Street that was famously patronised by journalists when many national newspapers were based nearby. It is still patronised by lawyers as the surrounding area is ...
wine bar in
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...
, London, of not serving women at the bar and instead requiring them to order by table service in a back room. Their legal action against El Vino was eventually heard in the Court of Appeal and upheld in November 1982. It was described by ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
''as "one of the most celebrated and publicised sex discrimination proceedings" under the Sex Discrimination Act. In 2017 Coote and Gill attended a celebration at El Vino, now under new owners, for the 35th anniversary of the case. Coote then turned to current affairs television as Editor and Producer of Diverse Productions from 1982 to 1986. Diverse was set up to pioneer programming on politics and current affairs to the new
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
based on tough journalistic standards. Coote was producer and presenter on current affairs programmes The Friday Alternative and Diverse Reports. In 1987 she worked as columnist on the short-lived left-wing tabloid newspaper, ''
News on Sunday The ''News on Sunday'' was a Left-wing politics, left-wing United Kingdom, British Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper. It was launched in April 1987. Publication ceased seven months later, in November 1987. Origins The founders of the ...
.''


1989-2008: director, commissioner, researcher

Since 1989 Coote has been prominent as a researcher, policy analyst and campaigner on a wide range of issues, including social policy, sustainable development, public health policy, public involvement and democratic dialogue, gender and equality. From 1989 to 98 she was Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the
Institute for Public Policy Research The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is a Progressivism, progressive think tank based in London. It was founded in 1988 by Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick, Lord Hollick and John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, Lord Eatwell, and is an independen ...
(IPPR). From 1998 to 2004 she was Director of Health Policy at the
King's Fund The King's Fund is an independent think tank, which is involved with work relating to the health system in England. It organises conferences and other events. Since 1997, they have jointly funded a yearly award system with GlaxoSmithKline. Th ...
; and from 2005-08 she led the
Healthcare Commission The Healthcare Commission was a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department of Health of the United Kingdom. It was set up to promote and drive improvement in the quality of health care and public health in England and Wales. It aime ...
’s work on engaging patients and the public. Her publications during this period covered a wide spread of topics, including the potential of citizens' juries, the politics of gender, social rights, and inequalities in health. In 2000 Coote was appointed a member of the UK
Sustainable Development Commission The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) was a non-departmental public body responsible for advising the UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly Government, and Northern Ireland Executive on sustainable development. It was set up ...
, which she held until shortly before 2010 when the SDC was abolished by the incoming Coalition government in the "bonfire of quangos". With her brief as Commissioner for Health she linked health issues with broader sustainable development concerns.


2008-2025: eco-social policy researcher and campaigner

In 2008 Anna Coote joined the
New Economics Foundation The New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a Great Britain, British think-tank that promotes "social, economic and environmental justice". NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) with the aim of working for a "new m ...
(NEF) as Head of Social Policy and later Principal Fellow. Her writings at this time included campaigns for upstream prevention in health (‘health not hospitals’), a shorter working week, combining work and caring roles. In 2020 she with Andrew Percy authored The Case for Universal Basic Services. It initiated the campaign for Universal Basic Services, as an alternative to Universal Basic Income, a debate that continues across Europe. In 2021 the campaign was renamed The Social Guarantee. In 2023 she was invited to present this work at the Beyond Growth conference at the European Parliament in Brussels. This gathering of 2000 people over three full days attracted diverse reactions: "Meet the lefty Europeans who want to shrink the economy" ''(
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
)'' and "a milestone moment on the road to transformation" (Partners for a New Economy).


Honours and citations

Honorary DLitt,
University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...
, 1999 Commissioner for Health, UK
Sustainable Development Commission The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) was a non-departmental public body responsible for advising the UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly Government, and Northern Ireland Executive on sustainable development. It was set up ...
, 2000-2009


Selected publications

*1972. ''Civil Liberty: The NCCL Guide'' (with Lawrence Grant) *1974. ''Women's Rights: A Practical Guide'' (with Tess Gill) *1982. ''Sweet Freedom: Struggle for Women’s Liberation'' (with Beatrix Campbell) *1990. ''Power and Prejudice: Women and Politics ''(with Polly Pattullo) *1992. T''he Welfare of Citizens: Developing new social rights'' (editor) *1997. ''Citizens' Juries: Theory into Practice'' (with Jo Lenaghan) *2000. ''New Gender Agenda'' (editor) *2013. ''The Prevention Papers'' (editor with Mike Harris) *2013. ''Time On Our Side: Why We All Need a Shorter Working Week'' (editor, with Jane Franklin) *2020. The Case for Universal Basic Services (with Andrew Percy) *2020. The Case for a Four Day Week (with Aidan Harper and Alfie Stirling) *2023. The case for a Social Guarantee: Universal access to life’s essentials


References


External links


Anna Coote
at
New Economics Foundation The New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a Great Britain, British think-tank that promotes "social, economic and environmental justice". NEF was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) with the aim of working for a "new m ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coote, Anna 1947 births Living people 20th-century English writers 21st-century English writers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh English women journalists English women non-fiction writers English women's rights activists English feminist writers