20 Facts About Andrew Copson

Andrew Copson is the Chief Executive of Humanists UK and the President of Humanists International.

Andrew Copson has worked for a number of civil and human rights organisations throughout his career in his capacity as executive committee member, director or trustee and has represented Humanist organisations before the House of Commons, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the United Nations.

Andrew Copson was born on 19 November 1980 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, to David Andrew Copson and Julia Heather Cunningham.

Andrew Copson was educated at the private school King Henry VIII School, Coventry which he describes as secular in its outlook.

Andrew Copson was brought up entirely without religion; as well as having non-religious parents, neither his grandparents nor his great-grandparents were religious and never had been.

Andrew Copson attended Balliol College, University of Oxford, graduating with a first class Bachelor of Arts degree in Ancient and Modern History in 2004.

Andrew Copson first joined the British Humanist Association in 2002 while at university: his mother had already been a member for some time.

Andrew Copson began volunteering for both the British Humanist Association and the Citizenship Foundation, an organisation which aims to address democratic inequality on social, moral and political issues, after graduating from Oxford.

In 2005 Andrew Copson started working at Humanists UK, known at the time as the British Humanist Association as director of education and public affairs.

Andrew Copson is a former director of the European Humanist Federation and has acted as representative of Humanist organisations to the United Nations, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

In 2015, Andrew Copson was elected as President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, taking over from the award-winning Belgian Humanist Sonja Eggerickx.

Andrew Copson is a fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, European Humanist Professionals and the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations.

Andrew Copson finds time for regular public speaking on a wide range of Humanist topics in the United Kingdom and abroad.

Andrew Copson has written, edited and contributed to several books on secularism and humanism including:.

Andrew Copson is a regular contributor to New Humanist magazine, has written for The Guardian, New Statesman, The Times and The Independent, and has been interviewed on BBC News, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky for non-religious opinions on topics such as religious symbols in the workplace and euthanasia.

Andrew Copson was one of the editors of The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Humanism, a collection of essays that explore Humanism as the way of life.

Andrew Copson has spoken widely on the subject of secularism, the separation of religion from the state, particularly in regard to children's education, civil ceremonies such as marriages and funerals, Human Rights law, against the automatic right of unelected Anglican bishops to sit in the House of Lords and the provision of religious chaplains in institutions such as the prison system and hospitals and hospices.

Andrew Copson has spoken frequently in regard to state education in England and the provision of non-religious schools and evidence-based teaching, both in his capacity as Chief Executive of the BHA and as a lifelong Humanist.

Andrew Copson has criticised the attempts of Nicolas Sarkozy in France to ban the burkini from French public beaches on the grounds that it disproportionately attacks women, demonises Muslim women specifically and is incompatible with religious freedom of choice.

In 2011, Andrew Copson entered into a civil partnership with Mark Wardrop.