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), London School of Economics
Children	2
Spouse	Brendan Cox
Member of	WEF/Young Global Leaders/2009
Victim of	assassination
Party	Labour
Subpage	•Jo Cox/Murder
Echoing Sweden's Anna Lindh, Jo Cox was killed in the run up to an EU referendum. As in the case of Lindh, her murder appears not to have greatly influenced the outcome, and was officially carried out by a "lone nut".  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 labelled her death "an attack on democracy" and announced that Parliament would be recalled on Monday 20 June 2016.

In his first interview (with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg) following the MP's murder, Brendan Cox said she was killed because of her "very strong political views."

Murder

Full article: Jo Cox/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, reportedly giving 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.

"Beloved niece"

Former Labour leader Lord Kinnock had tears running down his cheek as he told BBC Breakfast:

"We’ve known Jo since she came to work for Glenys in the European Parliament 20 years ago, and it would be no exaggeration to say that both of us felt about her as if she was a beloved niece, because that’s the kind of relationship it was.

"She was a woman of huge intelligence, sparkling. She was merry, she had a marvellous sense of dedicated purpose without any kind of piety or pomposity at all. She was wonderful company but she was also a ferociously effective political activist and she showed that before she became a Member of Parliament and we were hugely proud when she was selected and then elected.

"Glenys is bereft. Neither of us can really grasp the full meaning. Our immediate thoughts were for Brendan and their beautiful, wonderful kids. It's a death in the family, there's no doubt at all about that – our family, the Labour family, the family of Batley and Spen – because that's the kind of feeling, the response that she nourished. There's a phrase from Shelley, 'a day-star of the age' and Jo Cox was a day-star."

Israel critic

Free Speech on Israel (Jews & friends who say anti-zionism is NOT antisemitism) wrote this tribute:

We share the widespread sadness and anger at what appears to be the assassination of Jo Cox MP by a right wing terrorist, and want to express our condolences to her husband Brendan, her children Lejla and Cuillin and her many friends.

The Electronic Intifada, the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC), and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) have all published tributes to Cox who was an outspoken advocate for Syrian and Palestinian human rights.

Last year she put down an EDM on Gaza to mark the first anniversary of the 2014 bombing, and she called the Conservative government’s legal threats to curtail the boycott of Israel "a gross attack on democratic freedoms. It is our right to boycott unethical companies.”

By-election

On 12 September 2016, the Labour Party emailed a timetable for the selection of a candidate to replace Jo Cox:

"Following the very sad and untimely passing of Jo Cox MP, the Labour Party has now agreed a timetable to select a candidate for the by-election which will be held in due course.

"All members of the Labour Party who have been a member for at least 12 months prior to 16 June 2016, the date of Jo's death, may submit an application.

"You can download an application form here (you will need to log in to membersnet). Completed applications should be sent to batley@labour.org.uk by 12 noon on Friday 16 September. This deadline will be strictly adhered to.

"Candidates selected for interview will have to attend that interview in London on Monday 19 September. Shortlisted candidates will then be invited to a hustings meeting on the evening of Friday 23 September in the constituency, where local members will select their candidate."

On 16 September 2016, Helle Thorning-Schmidt (aka Mrs Stephen Kinnock) was reported to have applied to Batley and Spen CLP to be selected as candidate to succeed the murdered MP in the forthcoming by-election.

The following week, it was announced that the by-election would take place on 20 October 2016 and that former soap-actress Tracy Brabin had been selected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate.

The Conservative Party, followed by the Liberal Democrats, UK Independence Party and the Green Party, stated that as a mark of respect they would not contest the by-election.

Tracy Brabin held the seat for Labour with 17,506 votes (85.8%). However, turnout for the by-election was only 20,567 (25.8%) - one of the lowest by-election turnouts since the Second World War. All other candidates polled less than 5% of the vote and lost their deposits. Brabin was heckled by some of the other candidates as she delivered her speech at the declaration of the result.

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.

The London School of Economics posted this tribute on their Facebook page:

"LSE is greatly saddened to learn of the death of Jo Cox MP who studied at our LSE European Institute in the late 1990s. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with her husband Brendan, who is an alumnus of the LSE Department of Government, their children, wider family and friends."

External links

• Jo Cox false flag conspiracy
• Petition to cancel EU referendum surges in wake of Jo Cox killing

 

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