Kim Leadbeater describes herself as a “proud Yorkshire woman” and someone who has always been “very driven and determined”.
She is the sister of Jo Cox, who was Batley and Spen’s MP until she was murdered in the constituency in 2016.
Ms Leadbeater, the Labour MP for Spen Valley since 2021, said her sister’s death turned her life upside down.
She never planned to be an MP but it was her determination to make a difference that prompted her to run for election herself.
Reflecting on the pride she takes in her roots, Ms Leadbeater writes on her website: “I am a proud Yorkshire woman and have lived and worked in the Spen Valley all my life.”
Born at Dewsbury Hospital, she said she has lived in almost every part of the constituency – Heckmondwike, Cleckheaton, Gomersal, Liversedge, and Littletown.
She attended Royds Infants School, Cawley Lane Junior, and Heckmondwike Grammar School where she studied A-levels in English literature, history, law and general studies.
As a teenager she had part-time jobs in a coffee shop and in pizza takeaways before beginning one of her first proper full-time jobs at the local carpet yarn manufacturing business in Mirfield.
She began studying a degree in philosophy and politics at Leeds University, but missed the world of work and started temping at Jay-Be Beds in Dewsbury and Gomersal before going on to become national account manager at Slumberland Beds.
The world of health and fitness beckoned and Ms Leadbeater went on to do PGCE teacher training qualifications before lecturing in higher education at Kirklees College in Dewsbury and Bradford College.
She then set up her own business as a personal trainer, wellbeing coach and group exercise instructor.
Writing about her sister’s death on her website, Ms Leadbeater said: “The murder of my sister Jo in 2016, while she was working as MP for Batley and Spen, was utterly devastating and turned my life upside down, just as it did for my parents, Gordon and Jean and our entire family.
“Jo’s murder shook the world. And whatever you thought of her politics you could not meet a nicer person.
“Many people were determined that some good should come out of Jo’s horrific death and, while I kept my business going, I threw much of my energy into The Jo Cox Foundation and the local ‘More In Common’ volunteer group.”
Many people were determined that some good should come out of Jo’s horrific death and, while I kept my business going, I threw much of my energy into The Jo Cox Foundation and the local ‘More In Common’ volunteer group
In the 2021 New Year Honours list Ms Leadbeater received an MBE for services to social cohesion and combating loneliness during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Reflecting on her decision to run for public office, she said: “I have always been a very driven and determined person and it was my determination to make a difference that prompted me – after much soul-searching – to put myself forward for election as our local MP in the 2021 by-election.”
Ms Leadbeater said she will do everything she can to make the people of her constituency proud and to “make a difference to the community and country I love”.
The MP formally introduced her Bill to give choice at the end of life for the terminally ill in October.
In an interview with the PA news agency earlier this month, Ms Leadbeater said she has “consulted widely” on the Bill, speaking with medical and legal experts, those in the palliative care and hospice sectors, disability rights activists, faith leaders and “many, many people with their own personal experience of why the current law is not fit for purpose”.
She said she had a responsibility to put before MPs “the best possible legislation and I believe I have done that”.
And on Friday, the Bill cleared its first hurdle in Parliament as MPs voted 330 to 275 to approve it.
Fifteen members of the Cabinet, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer alongside Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper voted in favour.
Supporters of the Bill wept and hugged each other outside as the news came through.
Meanwhile, one of the Bill's most high-profile supporters, Dame Esther Rantzen, said she was "absolutely thrilled" with the result.
Ms Leadbeater has said a new law would give society "a much better approach towards end of life" and said there is "plenty of time to get this right" in the face of concerns the Bill is being rushed through.
She told the BBC: "We have shown Parliament in its best light today. Very respectful, very compassionate debate, irrespective of the different views that people hold."
The Bill will face further scrutiny and votes in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, meaning any change in the law would not be agreed until next year at the earliest.
Ms Leadbeater has said it would likely be a further two years from then for an assisted dying service to be in place.
