Born Clement Cooke in
Holborn, the only son of Robert Whall Cooke of
Brighton, Sussex, he was educated at
Brighton College, and at
St. John's College, Cambridge, where he read mathematics and law. He was called to the bar in 1883 by the
Inner Temple, whereupon he joined the
Oxford Circuit, and became Treasury prosecuting counsel for Berkshire. Later he was legal advisor to the House of Lords Sweating Commission and private secretary to
Windham Wyndham-Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (1885–87). He was also examiner under the Civil Service Commission for factory inspectorships. Cooke followed with an active career in journalism, writing and editing for
English Illustrated Magazine, the
Observer, the
Pall Mall Gazette, and the
New Review. He wrote on imperial and colonial subjects. During this time he also wrote an authorised memoir of
Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, Duchess of Teck, and a biography of
Mary of Teck. He founded the
Empire Review in 1901 and that connexion remained for the remainder of his life. and he held that seat until his defeat at the
1923 general election by the
Liberal Party candidate
Leslie Hore-Belisha. He was returned to the
House of Commons the following year as MP for
Cardiff East, and held that seat until he was defeated at the
1929 general election. He served as chairman of Naval and Dockyards Committee for 14 years, and the Expiring Laws and Continuance Act Committee. He was created a Knight Commander in the Order of the British Empire in 1919, and a baronet of Brighthelmstone, Sussex in 1926. ==Personal life and death==