Kim Leadbeater

MP for Spen Valley

Labour

Kim Leadbeater is the Labour MP for Spen Valley, having first been elected to parliament at a by-election in July 2021 as the MP for the former Batley and Spen seat.

In the 2024 general election, Leadbeater received 16,076 votes, representing 39.2% of the vote share. The Reform UK candidate, Sarah Wood, received 9,888 votes (24.1%), while the Conservative candidate, Laura Evans, secured 9,859 votes (24.0%). Leadbeater was duly elected with a majority of 6,188 votes.

The Spen Valley constituency is located in West Yorkshire. It includes towns such as Cleckheaton, Heckmondwike, and parts of Batley. The area contains ethnically diverse communities, particularly significant populations with South Asian heritage in towns like Batley and Heckmondwike.

Spen Valley is a new constituency created for the 2024 general election, largely succeeding the former Batley and Spen seat, with boundary changes incorporating areas from the former Dewsbury constituency. Batley and Spen was held by Labour from 1997 until its abolition in 2024, represented previously by Tracy Brabin (2016-2021) and Jo Cox (2015-2016), Kim Leadbeater’s sister. Prior to 1997, the seat was held by the Conservatives.

Cox was murdered on 16 June 2016 while carrying out her constituency duties by a white supremacist and neo-Nazi just one week before the Brexit referendum. The campaign was suspended and parliament recalled on 20 June 2016 so MPs could pay tribute to Cox. MPs from across the political spectrum commended Cox for her humanitarian work, particularly on behalf of Syrian refugees, and commitment to compassionate politics.

In June 2017, a coat of arms designed with the input of Cox’s children was unveiled in the House of Commons, placed above where Cox usually sat in the chamber.

The 2021 Batley and Spen by-election followed the resignation of Brabin, the incumbent Labour MP, upon her election as mayor of West Yorkshire. Leadbeater placed first with 13,296 votes (35.3%), winning a narrow majority of 323 votes over the Conservative candidate. The contest featured a high-profile campaign by George Galloway for the Workers Party of Britain (WPB). Galloway came in third place with 8,264 votes (21.9%) of the vote.

Political Career

Leadbeater is a member of the House of Commons women and equalities select committee (since October 2025) – the committee responsible for holding the government to account on equality law and policy, including the Equality Act 2010, as well as cross government activity on equalities. It also scrutinises the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

In September 2024, Leadbeater placed top in the private members’ bill (PMB) ballot. She subsequently introduced the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, seeking to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales under specific safeguards.

On 29 November 2024, MPs voted to back the assisted dying bill at its second reading by 330 votes to 275 – a majority of 55. It was subject to a “free vote” in the commons as a conscience issue – meaning party leaderships did not whip their MPs into voting either in favour or against assisted dying.

Addressing the commons, Leadbeater said the bill was “not about people choosing between life and death”. She argued the proposed legislation was “about giving dying people with six months or less to live autonomy about how they die and the choice to shorten their deaths.”

She maintained that the current law was “failing” and that, as legislators, MPs had a “duty to do what is right to fix it.”

Leadbeater said her bill addressed “one of the most significant issues of our time – an issue that people across the country clearly want us to address, none more so than the many families who are facing the brutal and cruel reality of the status quo.”

During the debate, the de facto opposition to the assisted dying bill was led by Danny Kruger, then a Conservative MP. He argued that it would fundamentally alter the relationship between the state and the citizen, creating a “state suicide service.”

Kruger described the proposed six-month prognosis as “arbitrary” and expressed his view that the bill’s safeguards would be eroded over time. He referred to the “voices of those we cannot hear: the frail and elderly and the disabled”, arguing that MPs must “do better than this bill”.

The vote in November 2024 reflected a shift in parliamentary opinion. A similar PMB providing for assisted dying was defeated in the commons at its second reading in 2015, with 330 voting against and 118 in favour.

Leadbeater’s bill, having secured its second reading, proceeded to committee stage. The bill was subjected to detailed scrutiny in a public bill committee; accounting for the contentious nature of the legislation, the committee stage was unusually prolonged and, in an unprecedented step, heard evidence from witnesses. The public bill committee of 18 cross-party MPs, holding a range of views on assisted dying, sat for almost 90 hours of debate across 29 sittings between January 2025 and March 2025.

Over three days of evidence sessions, from 28 January to 30 January, over 50 expert witnesses gave testimony.

In total, 29 amendments to the bill were considered. A significant change came as MPs changed the previous provision which said applications for assisted dying would be subject to the approval of two doctors and a high court judge. Under the amended bill, applicants’ submissions would be considered by a multi-disciplinary “assisted dying review panels”, consisting of a senior legal figure, a consultant psychiatrist, and a social worker. The requirement for two doctors to approve the request first remains in place. This change was tabled by Leadbeater. The commencement period was also increased from two years to four years in England.

The amended bill returned to the commons for its report stage and third reading in June 2025, where it passed by a narrower margin of 23 votes (314 votes to 291). In total, research has found that 56 MPs changed their position between the assisted dying bill’s second and third reading.

Following the murder of Conservative MP David Amess in October 2021, Leadbeater spoke about the safety of MPs and called for measures to address online abuse, including anonymity on social media.

She said: “For reasons that I would never wish on any other member of this House, or indeed anyone, I have a unique perspective on what those closest to David are going through. I send them love, support and solidarity from me, my parents, our family and the people of Batley and Spen.”

Leadbeater added: “I know that wider discussions will now take place about the safety of MPs, the awful abuse and intimidation that we face, the nature of political discourse and how we can deal with the evils of terrorism. It is quite right that they do…

“It is up to us to make sure that we do that, because I know more than most that they will need it, and the powerful difference that it will make to them.”

She served as an opposition whip from September 2023 until the dissolution of parliament in May 2024.

Leadbeater is a patron of LGBT+ Labour – a socialist society formally affiliated with the Labour Party.

Leadbeater delivered her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 9 September 2021, during a debate on the legacy of her sister.

In it, she said: “Nobody gave me a book of spells or taught me how to play quidditch, but here I am. I am sure every new MP experiences the same mixture of pride and responsibility that I am feeling right now, but as the House does my family the great honour of paying tribute to my sister, I hope that members will understand that I mean no disrespect to this place when I say that I would give literally anything not to be standing here today in her place.”

She added: “Jo’s murder ripped the heart out of our family… It was devastating for the people of Batley and Spen, too, because so many of them had also taken her to their hearts.”

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Leadbeater was one of 117 Labour MPs who nominated Lucy Powell for the party’s deputy leadership in September 2025. The election followed the resignation of Angela Rayner, who stepped down as deputy prime minister and deputy party leader after an investigation into her tax affairs. It marked the first time since 2007 that Labour had held a deputy leadership contest while in government.

Powell, the former leader of the House of Commons, was seen as a candidate representing the party’s “soft left”; she was supported by leading soft left figures including Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham. She secured 117 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), above the 80 required, and went on to win the election – defeating Bridget Phillipson with 54.3% of the vote.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Leadbeater voted in favour of the government’s flagship welfare bill at second reading. The vote came after ministers agreed to significant concessions to avoid defeat via a mass rebellion of Labour MPs on 1 July 2025.

Foreign policy and security

LFPME: Leadbeater has been listed as a member of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East (LFPME). The organisation’s stated aim is to promote peace and justice in the region through the application of international law and respect for human rights.

Before Politics

Born in Dewsbury in 1976, Leadbeater grew up in the Batley and Spen area. She attended Heckmondwike Grammar School.

She studied Health Related Exercise and Fitness at Leeds Beckett University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree. She later gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from the University of Huddersfield.

Prior to entering politics, Leadbeater worked as a personal trainer and wellbeing coach. She was also a lecturer in physical activity and health at Bradford College.

Following the murder of Jo Cox in 2016, Leadbeater became an ambassador for the Jo Cox Foundation and chaired the More in Common community volunteer group in Batley and Spen, focusing on community cohesion.

She was awarded an MBE in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to social cohesion and combatting loneliness, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.

She also received a prime minister’s Points of Light award in 2018 by Theresa May.