Helen Joanne "Jo" Cox[1] (néeLeadbeater;[2] 22 June 1974 – 16 June 2016) was an English UK Labour Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Batley and Spen from her election in May 2015 until her death 13 months later in June 2016, having retained the seat with an increased majority for Labour in the2015 general election.[3]
Born in Batley, West Yorkshire, Cox graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1995, before working as a political assistant, then joining the international humanitarian charityOxfam, where she rose to become its head of policy. She was selected to contest the Batley and Spen constituency after the previous incumbent, Labour's Mike Wood, decided not to stand again in 2015. Having retained the seat for Labour she became a campaigner on issues relating to the Syrian Civil War, and founded the All-Party Parliamentary GroupFriends of Syria, of which she became chair. She was described as "a tireless campaigner for Syrian refugees".[4]
On 16 June 2016, Cox was shot and stabbed multiple times in Birstall, where she had been holding a surgery with her constituents. She was left in critical condition and died from her injuries approximately an hour later. A 52-year-old man was arrested in connection with the attack.[5]
Early life and education
Cox was born on 22 June 1974 in Batley, West Yorkshire, England, and raised inHeckmondwike. Her mother was a school secretary while her father worked in a toothpaste and hairspray factory.[6] She was educated at Heckmondwike Grammar School, a stategrammar school, before going on to read Social and Political Studies at Pembroke College, Cambridge; she graduated in 1995.[7][8][9][10][11] She was the first in her family to attend university.[7] Cox also studied at the London School of Economics.[7]
Career
Early career
Following her graduation, Cox worked as an adviser to Labour MP Joan Walley, before moving to Brussels to spend two years advising Glenys Kinnock, who was then a Member of the European Parliament. She became an aid worker in developing countries for Oxfam, eventually becoming the charity's head of policy.[when?] Her charity work later led to a role advising Sarah Brown (the wife of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown), who was spearheading a campaign to prevent deaths in pregnancy and childbirth.[6][12] She was national chair of the Labour Women's Network and a senior adviser to the Freedom Fund, an anti-slavery charity.[9][10]
Political career
Cox was nominated by the Labour Party to contest the Batley and Spen seat being vacated by Mike Wood in the 2015 general election.[13] She was selected as a candidate for a seat via an all-women shortlist.[7] The Batley and Spen constituency is generally a safe seat for Labour,[14] and Cox won the seat with 43.2% of the vote.[3]
Cox made her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 3 June 2015, using it to celebrate her constiuency's ethnic diversity, while highlighting the economic challenges facing the community and urging the government to rethink its approach to economic regeneration.[15] She was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015, but said at the time that she had done so in order to get him on the list and encourage a broad debate.[16] In the election she voted for Liz Kendall,[17] and announced on 6 May 2016 after the local elections that she and fellow MP Neil Coyle regretted nominating Corbyn.[18]
The Syrian conflict was one of Cox's main campaigning issues.[11] In October 2015 she co-authored, with Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell, an article in The Observer arguing that British military forces could help achieve an ethical solution to the conflict in Syria.[19]During that month Cox launched the All Party Parliamentary Friends of Syria group, becoming its chair.[20][21] In the subsequent vote to approve UK military intervention againstISIL in Syria, Cox abstained (one of five Labour MPs to do so),[7] as she did not consider the intervention to be part of an effective comprehensive strategy to tackle the Syrian conflict including dealing with President Bashar al-Assad.[11][22]
Cox supported the "Remain" campaign during the 2016 referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.[23] Following her death, campaigning in the EU referendum was suspended for the day on both sides as a mark of respect.[24] The BBC also announced that the day's editions of Question Time and This Week, two political discussion programmes that were due to focus on issues relating to the referendum, would be cancelled.[25]
Death
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The library in Birstall where Cox had been holding a constituency surgery before the attack
On 16 June 2016, Cox was fatally shot and stabbed outside a library in Birstall, upon leaving a constituency surgery scheduled at 13:00.[24][26]
According to eyewitnesses, she was shot three times—once near the head—and stabbed multiple times. Police are investigating reports that the assailant shouted "Britain first" as he carried out the attack.[24][26][27] The far-rightBritain First party issued a statement denying any involvement or encouragement in the attack and suggested that the phrase "could have been a slogan rather than a reference to our party".[28][29]
Four hours after the incident, West Yorkshire Police announced that Cox had died at Leeds General Infirmary.[26][30] This was the first violent death of an MP for more than a quarter of a century,[31] since Ian Gow was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1990,[32][33] and the first serious assault on an MP since Stephen Timms was stabbed byRoshonara Choudhry in an attempted assassination in 2010.[34][35]
A 52-year-old man was arrested in connection with Cox's death.[24][36]
Cox's husband, Brendan, issued a statement following her death, urging people to "fight against the hatred that killed her".[37] Among those who paid tribute to Cox were Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who described her as someone who was "dedicated to getting us to live up to our promises to support the developing world and strengthen human rights",[38] while UK Prime Minister David Cameron said she was "a star for her constituents, a star in parliament, and right across the house".[39] Gabrielle Giffords, who in 2011 was herself shot in the head when speaking at a meeting as a US congresswoman, described Cox as "young, courageous, and hardworking".[40]
Personal life
Cox was married to Brendan Cox, who served as an adviser on international developmentto Gordon Brown during the latter's premiership.[41][42] They had two children[9] who were aged three and five when she died.[43]
Cox's family divided their time between their constituency home and a houseboat (a converted barge) on the Thames, moored near Tower Bridge, London.[7][11]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Cox
