Kim Leadbeater

Kim Michele Leadbeater (born 1 May 1976) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Spen Valley, formerly Batley and Spen, since 2021.

Early life and career
Kim Leadbeater was born on 1 May 1976 in Dewsbury, to parents Jean and Gordon. She is the younger sister of former MP Jo Cox (1974–2016). Kim attended Heckmondwike Grammar School, and says that she has lived in "every little bit of" the local area. Leadbeater went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in health-related exercise and fitness from Leeds Beckett University in 2005 and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from the University of Huddersfield in 2008.

Before moving into politics, Leadbeater was a lecturer in physical health at Bradford College, and has worked as a personal trainer.

Parliamentary career
On 23 May 2021, Leadbeater was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the Batley and Spen by-election. Upon her selection, Leadbeater declared that she was "the candidate the Tories fear". Her selection proved controversial, as Leadbeater had been selected despite only joining the party in recent weeks; the rule requiring that candidates should be a member of the party for a year before being nominated was waived. She had previously been a member of the Labour Party but let this lapse following the murder of her sister when she helped found the Jo Cox Foundation on a non-party basis.

At the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election, Leadbeater was elected to Parliament as MP for Batley and Spen with 35.3% of the vote and a majority of 323. Leadbeater made her maiden speech on 9 September 2021 during a debate on her sister's legacy.

In her first six months in parliament, her two longest speeches were tributes to her sister and to David Amess, another MP who was murdered in October 2021. She argued that the safety of MPs was not being taken seriously enough, and she called for anonymity on social media to become an exception to combat a culture of abuse.

In June 2023 she wrote a report, published by the Fabian Society: Healthy Britain: a new approach to health and wellbeing policy.

In November 2022, she criticised the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies which proposed the breakup of her Batley and Spen constituency. She announced in May 2023 that she intends to stand for the new constituency of Spen Valley at the 2024 general election, following changes made by the Boundary Commission which would abolish the Batley and Spen and create Spen Valley and Dewsbury and Batley.

she is chair of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) on Sport and Tidy Britain, co-chair of the groups on Political Literacy and on Tackling Loneliness and Connected Communities, and vice-chair or officer of several others.

Personal life
Leadbeater lives in her constituency with her partner Clare. Outside politics, her main interests are hockey and sport.

In 2020, she was appointed President of West Yorkshire Scouts.

Her older sister, Jo Cox, had served as the MP for Batley and Spen from May 2015 until her murder in June 2016; Leadbeater contributed to the 2017 book Jo Cox: More in Common.

Awards
In 2018, Leadbeater was awarded the UK's one thousandth Points of Light award by Prime Minister Theresa May for having "rejected the hate that marked [her] sister's murder to continue Jo's work and ensure that Jo's determination to change the world has lived on."

In the 2021 New Year Honours, Leadbeater was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "[f]or services to Social Cohesion, to the community in Batley, West Yorkshire and to Combatting Loneliness during Covid-19", when she was described in The London Gazette as "Ambassador, Jo Cox Foundation and Chair, More in Common Batley and Spen".

The Spectator named her as 2021's "Newcomer of the Year".