Tributes flow in for "proud Yorkshire lass" Jo Cox MP

VIGILS were held at a Birstall church and outside Parliament last night for a woman described as a “proud Yorkshire lass” who had been a leading light working with charities as well as a newly-elected MP.

Jo Cox, who passed away yesterday afternoon following a fatal attack, was a 41 year-old mother of two.

She had been elected as MP for Batley and Spen only in last year’s elections. Her husband Brendan said: “Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it everyday of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people.”

Mrs Cox started out as a political advisor after graduating from the University of Cambridge in 1995. She was the first person in her family to go to university.

She then moved into the third sector, working with Oxfam in Brussels and New York, before spells at the NSPCC and Save the Children amongst others. Mrs Cox also worked as an adviser to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In 2014, she was chosen as the Labour candidate to contest the Batley and Spen seat from an all-women shortlist.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn paid tribute, he said: “Jo 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.”

While at Westminster she was chairperson of Labour Women’s Network and adviser to any-slavery organisation Freedom Fund.

Mrs Cox divided her time between her constituency home and a river boat on the Thames. She described herself on her Twitter biography as (among other things): “Mum. Proud Yorkshire Lass. Labour MP for Batley & SpenBoat dweller. Mountain climber. Former aid worker.”

Earlier this week she had tweeted a photo of herself, Mr Cox and their two children taking part in the EU referendum flotilla on the Thames.

Tributes have poured in for Mrs Cox with PM David Cameron saying that Mrs Cox was a “great star”.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: “Sarah and I were privileged to work with Jo and her husband Brendan over many years and in her tireless efforts on behalf of poor and desolate children and mothers. She she went to some of the most dangerous places in the world. The last place she should have been in danger was in her home community.

“People will say that this does not happen in Britain. This should not happen in Britain. And we must resolve that this will never again happen in Britain.

“My and Sarah’s thoughts and prayers are with Brendan and their two young children Cuillin and Lejla this evening They will have all our support in the difficult days ahead.”

Ed Miliband wrote: “My heart breaks for the loss of Jo Cox and for Brendan and their kids. She was so full of life and joy. Words feel hopeless right now.”

Even US Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said that she was horrified by the “assassination” of the British MP: “Her maiden speech in Parliament celebrated the diversity of her beloved Yorkshire constituency, and passionately made the case that there is more that unites us than divides us. It is cruel and terrible that her life was cut short by a violent act of political intolerance.

“It is critical that the United States and Britain, two of the world’s oldest and greatest democracies, stand together against hatred and violence. This is how we must honor Jo Cox – by rejecting bigotry in all its forms, and instead embracing, as she always did, everything that binds us together.”