Jo Cox

Jo Cox MP    (politician)
Born	Helen Joanne Leadbeater 22 June 1974 Batley, West Yorkshire, England
Died	2016-06-16 (Age 41) Birstall, West Yorkshire, England
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Pembroke College, Cambridge
Children	2
Spouse	Brendan Cox
Member of	WEF/Young Global Leaders/2009
Victim of	assassination
Party	Labour
Subpage	•Jo Cox/Murder
Member of Parliament for Batley and Spen In office 8 May 2015 - 16 June 2016 Preceded by Nick Harvey, John Thurso

Helen Joanne "Jo" Cox (22 June 1974 – 16 June 2016) was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Jo Cox was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Batley and Spen from the May 2015 General Election until she was brutally murdered on 16 June 2016.

On 17 June 2016, David Cameron paid tribute to MP Jo Cox, calling her "one of our most compassionate campaigners".

Speaking alongside the prime minister in Mrs Cox's West Yorkshire constituency, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Parliament would be recalled on Monday 20 June 2016, and labelled her death "an attack on democracy".

Murder

On 16 June 2016, Jo Cox MP was shot and stabbed multiple times outside the public library in Birstall, West Yorkshire, where she was due to hold a surgery with her constituents. She was left in a critical condition and died from her injuries approximately an hour later.

A 52-year-old man, identified by the Daily Telegraph and The Independent as Thomas "Tommy" Mair, was arrested and charged with her murder.

Thomas Mair gave his name as "Death to traitors, freedom for Britain" when he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 18 June 2016.

Thames flotilla

Jo Cox flying the IN flag to confront the Fishing for Leave flotilla on 15 June 2016

On 15 June 2016, UKIP leader Nigel Farage led a flotilla of some 35 fishing boats and other vessels along the River Thames to the Houses of Parliament. The flotilla had been organised by Scottish skippers as part of the EU Referendum Fishing for Leave campaign. Tower Bridge had to be opened for 20 minutes, causing delays for motorists and the Brexit boats were forced to pass through IN banners draped across the bridge.

The Brexiteers were soon trailed by a group of Remain supporters led by former pop star Bob Geldof on a pleasure cruiser who had armed himself with a huge sound system to counter the flotilla. The Boomtown rats star blasted out songs including Chicago's "If you leave me now" and Dobie Gray's "In With The In Crowd."​ Addressing Farage over a PA system on his vessel, the Sarpedon, Geldof said:

"You are no fisherman's friend. It’s not like Farage is interested. If he was then he would have shown up for more than one out of the last 43 EU fishery meetings. You are a fraud, Nigel. Go back down the river because you are up one without a canoe or a paddle. Stop lying. This election is too important."

Geldof's lone Remain boat was later joined by a number of rubber dinghies flying the IN flag, including that of Jo Cox with her husband and their two children.

City bosses had expressed concerns that Tower Bridge was being used for such a “politically charged event”, but the Port of London Authority had given permission for 12 boats from the flotilla to continue to Westminster. The boats arrived outside Parliament at about noon, ahead of the final Prime Minister’s Questions before votes are cast next Thursday. A UKIP spokesman said:

“Of course it’s a political event — there’s a referendum on June 23 that matters passionately to millions of people across these islands."

Corbyn tribute

The whole of the Labour Party and Labour family - and indeed the whole country - will be in shock at the horrific murder of Jo Cox today.

Jo Cox had a lifelong record of public service and a deep commitment to humanity. She worked both for Oxfam and the anti-slavery charity, the Freedom Fund, before she was elected last year as MP for Batley and Spen – where she was born and grew up.

Jo was dedicated to getting us to live up to our promises to support the developing world and strengthen human rights – and she brought those values and principles with her when she became an MP.

Jo Cox died doing her public duty at the heart of our democracy, listening to and representing the people she was elected to serve. It is a profoundly important cause for us all.

Jo was universally liked at Westminster, not just by her Labour colleagues, but across parliament.

In the coming days, there will be questions to answer about how and why she died. But for now all our thoughts are with Jo’s husband Brendan and their two young children. They will grow up without their Mum, but can be immensely proud of what she did, what she achieved and what she stood for.

We send them our deepest condolences. We have lost a much loved colleague, a real talent and a dedicated campaigner for social justice and peace. But they have lost a wife and a mother, and our hearts go out to them.

Family

Jo Cox MP was married to Brendan Cox, who served as an adviser on international development to Gordon Brown during the latter's premiership. Jo Cox, a former aide to Brown’s wife Sarah, headed the Labour Women’s Network where she was ‘equalities and discrimination’ adviser.

The Cox family divided their time between a constituency home and a houseboat on the River Thames, moored near Tower Bridge, London.

External links

• Jo Cox conspiracy
• Labour Friend of Palestine Jo Cox slain

 

Related Documents

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Peak Kinnock	Article	19 September 2016	Craig Murray	"11,000 people saving £2 a month might not save a dying little baby, but would exactly pay the £264,000 per year salary of Neil Kinnock’s daughter-in-law Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Chief Executive of Save the Children and wife of MP Stephen Kinnock. Misery for some is a goldmine for others."
Document:Someone said they wanted to see me trapped in a burning car and watch flames melt my flesh	Article	22 October 2021	Nadine Dorries	After the murder of MP David Amess, a crackdown on "internet trolls" is being demanded by most politicians. The UK's new Culture Minister Nadine Dorries is pursuing new overreaching legislation regulating Big Tech. The "Online Safety Bill" will abolish online anonymity and empower internet censorship. There are fears that it will be the end for freedom of expression in the UK.

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