Pam Cox is the Labour Party MP for Colchester, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Cox received 18,804 votes (41.9%), defeating Conservative candidate James Cracknell who secured 10,554 votes (23.5%). The Reform UK candidate, Terence Longstaff, polled 6,664 votes (14.8%). Cox won with a majority of 8,250.

The Colchester constituency is located in Essex, East of England. Historically a marginal seat, it was held by the Liberal Democrats from 1997 to 2015 and by the Conservatives from 2015 to 2024.

Cox’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Colchester was Will Quince of the Conservative Party. Quince, who held the seat from 2015 to 2024, stood down at the 2024 general election.

Political Career

Cox currently serves as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Northern Ireland Office. A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs. The role is widely regarded as the first step on the ministerial ladder. Although they cannot speak for the government in debates, a PPS is bound by collective responsibility and becomes part of the so-called “payroll vote”, expected to support the official line in all divisions. Cox was appointed to this role in July 2026, following the Labour leadership contest and Andy Burnham’s elevation as prime minister.

Cox served as a PPS in the Ministry of Defence from June to July 2026. Her appointment to this role followed the resignation of Pamela Nash and Rachel Hopkins as defence PPSs. Their resignations came after John Healey stepped down as defence secretary over a dispute regarding military spending and the defence investment plan (DIP) specifically.

In May 2026, Cox was among the over 100 Labour MPs who signed a joint statement insisting it was “no time for a leadership contest.” The letter was an intervention in the political crisis engulfing Keir Starmer’s premiership, after Labour suffered heavy losses in the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru. It was organised as a counterweight to a mounting rebellion that had seen high-profile figures, including some ministers, call for Starmer’s resignation.

The statement read: “Last week we had a devastatingly tough set of election results. It shows we have a hard job ahead to win back trust from the electorate.

“That job needs to start today – with all of us working together to deliver the change the country needs.

“We must focus on that. This is no time for a leadership contest.”

In March 2026, Cox defended the government’s plans to restrict jury trials. Writing for LabourList, she argued that the belief in an inherent right to a jury trial is historically inaccurate.

She wrote: “In the mid 19th-century, defendants charged with lesser offences in higher courts could choose summary trial only if they pleaded guilty, often to secure a faster resolution and lighter sentence.

“In effect, they were opting out of jury trial. Many took that option. The modern right to elect for a jury trial, as it exists today, dates from court reforms of the 1970s.”

Speaking during the second reading of the Courts and Tribunals Bill, Cox said she had “more than a passing interest” in legal history.

She argued that “many politicians across this House have acted to shape jury trials over time”.

She stated: “This bill preserves jury trials for the most serious cases. If it did not, I would not support it. It also allows those presiding over a bench trial to reallocate the case to jury trial if new evidence emerges to suggest that the defendant might receive a sentence of more than three years.”

Cox further accused opposition MPs of “delaying justice and undermining victims”.

Cox has sat as a member of the House of Commons justice select committee (2024-2026).

Cox has been listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for East of England.

Cox delivered her maiden speech on 9 October 2024 in a debate on the Renters’ Rights Bill.

In it, she said: “I am not a career politician. I have spent most of my life researching, teaching and leading in higher education, much of it at the outstanding University of Essex. I worked in social history and social sciences. It is my firm belief that only by understanding what has worked and what has mattered in the past can we hope to build a better future.

“I have written about the history of work, criminal justice, social care and education. I have used that knowledge to help to lead present-day policy change in youth services, family courts, women’s employment and victims’ rights.”

She added: “On my way into this place, I often walk past the imposing statue of that first Norfolk woman, Boudica, standing proud in her chariot on the embankment, and I feel like she is spurring me on to step up to the plate as Colchester’s first woman MP.”

Before entering parliament, Cox was elected as a Labour councillor on Colchester City Council in May 2021. She stepped down from this role in September 2025.

Political views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Cox 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.

Factional identity and party tradition

Living Standards Coalition: Cox is a member of the Living Standards Coalition. Established in July 2025, the group’s stated aim was to develop and promote policy ideas that directly reduce everyday costs for households, particularly in areas such as food, energy, housing and childcare. In an open letter published upon its founding, addressed to Keir Starmer, the MPs wrote: “Our constituents will ask one question at the next election: did this Labour government make me better off?”

They added: “To raise living standards, we support government interventions that will help to increase incomes and lower costs.”

Welfare

Welfare ‘reasoned amendment’ (June 2025): Cox was one of the over 120 Labour MPs to sign the reasoned amendment to the government’s flagship welfare bill which aimed to reject the proposed legislation.

The amendment, in the name of senior Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, objected to the fact that the bill had not been subject to a “formal consultation with disabled people” and that “250,000 people will be pushed into poverty” as a result of it, according to a government impact assessment.

The motion also called on the government to wait for the publication of the review into the Personal Independence Payment (Pip), helmed by minister Sir Stephen Timms, and the independent review, conducted by Sir Charlie Mayfield, into how the employment of disabled people could be boosted.

In a statement at the time, Cox said: “Over the past few weeks, I’ve heard from many constituents in Colchester who are deeply concerned about the government’s proposed changes to Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment.

“I’ve listened carefully – and I’ve acted. Today, I joined a broad group of MPs in signing an amendment to the bill.

“This isn’t about rejecting reform altogether. It’s about making sure we get it right. The bill, as it stands, hasn’t been properly consulted on with disabled people and carers.”

Welfare vote (July 2025): Cox 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.

Assisted dying

Cox voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Cox voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Palestine

Palestinian recognition letter (July 2025): In July 2025, Cox was among the over 254 MPs to sign a cross-party letter calling for the government to immediately recognise the state of Palestine. The letter called on the prime minister and foreign secretary to recognise Palestine at the UN Conference then taking place in New York.

Before Politics

Born Pamela Margaret Cox, she grew up in Southend, Essex. Her mother worked as a midwife and nurse, and her father, who left school at 15, was an apprentice joiner before becoming a church minister.

Cox studied history at Robinson College, Cambridge, graduating in 1992.

In 1997, she was awarded a PhD from Cambridge for her thesis on the history of girls’ delinquency in Britain. Her thesis was titled “Rescue and reform Girls, delinquency and industrial schools 1908-1933”.

Cox later worked as professor of social history and criminology at the University of Essex.

Moreover, she has presented BBC documentary series, including Shopgirls: The True Story of Life Behind the Counter and Servants: The True Story of Life Below Stairs.

Cox has also contributed to programmes on Channel 4 and Channel 5.

On top of this, Cox worked as a policy consultant with government, local authority and voluntary sector organisations.

Personal Life

Cox lives in her Colchester constituency.

Trivia

Cox is the first woman to represent the constituency of Colchester in parliament.

She joined the Labour Party in 1994.