‘Yes it's been tough...but nothing could ever be as bad as losing my sister Jo’

When a Far-Right terrorist killed MP Jo Cox, her sister's life would change forever. Here KIM LEADBEATER explains what drove her into politics and how she ended up leading the campaign for one of the most controversial law changes in British history

- By HANNA GEISSLER HEALTH EDITOR

BECOMING the political face of what might be the greatest societal change in half a century was never going to be easy. But luckily for assisted dying campaigners, Kim Leadbeater is not afraid of a fight.

The Labour MP for Spen Valley has faced increasingly personal attacks from opponents, which intensified in recent weeks as the Bill committee carried out line-by-line scrutiny of her historic legislation.

Speaking in her parliamentary office, hours after the committee's final meeting ended shortly after midnight, Ms Leadbeater admits it has been “brutal”.

But she says: “I always come back to my journey into politics. The worst thing that could possibly have happened in my life happened when my sister was killed.

“So even though this has been tough, and it's taken strength and resilience, it'll never be as bad as what else I've been through.”

She is talking, of course, about her sister Jo Cox, the MP and mother-of-two who was murdered by a Far-Right terrorist in 2016 while on her way to a constituency surgery.

The frenzied attack sent shockwaves through Westminster and changed the course of Ms Leadbeater's life, setting her on a path into politics that saw her elected to her sister's former seat in 2021.

“I literally think about Jo every day,” she adds. “I think I always will, not least because her murder is fundamentally the reason why I'm sat here doing this job.”

It was another unexpected turn of events in early September that led her to become involved with efforts to legalise assisted dying.

The former personal trainer had barely set down her racquet after an early morning tennis session when her name was drawn first in the Private Member's Bill ballot, which decides which MPs will have the opportunity to introduce new laws.