'My sister was the most wonderful, kind and compassionate person' - MP Kim Leadbeater
Next week marks ten years since the tragic death of West Yorkshire MP Jo Cox. Today her sister Kim Leadbeater, Batley and Spen MP, shares her precious memories of her ‘most wonderful sister’
To people who only knew Jo Cox from photographs or from the television, she will be fondly remembered for her beaming smile and distinctive dimples.
But to Batley and Spen Valley MP Kim Leadbeater, she will always be remembered as the “most wonderful sister”.
The siblings grew up in the heart of North Kirklees, and followed in the footsteps of their parents, Gordon and Jean, by attending Heckmondwike Grammar School.
Jo would later become the first in the Leadbeater family to attend university, at Cambridge no less, where she studied social and political sciences. Westminster would follow.
But away from the campaigning and government spotlight she will always be fondly remembered and loved as an elder sister and a devoted mum to her two children.
“She was such a kind, compassionate person,” Kim said. “Jo was the most wonderful sister. She was also very annoying, as most siblings are! She was very forgetful and she was also late.
“She would regularly message me saying ‘what should we get mum or dad for their birthday’, and I would say, ‘well actually Jo it was yesterday and I sorted out the card and present so don’t worry, just sort me out the money!’
“She would always be late for things but that was because she was always looking at the bigger picture and I actually relate to that now doing this job because there is so much going on.
“She had two small children to look after as well. She was always full of energy and full of life, but sometimes not the most organised person.”
Her two children, Cuillin and Lejla, are emulating her in being “annoyingly good at everything” as well as adopting their mother’s kind nature.
They are shrouded with love from the family who have protected them since the news of their mum’s murder a decade on.
“Her children are doing brilliantly,” Kim revealed. “They are academic, sporty, they are musical, they are handsome and they are also really nice people as well.
“So when they come to Yorkshire, which they do regularly, we try and find something we can beat them at, but we are struggling to do that at the minute.
“They are doing really well. I am sure the tenth anniversary will hit them hard because they are that much older now and they were so tiny when Jo was killed but they have got a brilliant family around them who look after them and, as a family, we are very close and very much focussed on the children’s wellbeing and making sure that they are okay, and thank goodness they are doing so well.”
The impact of Jo’s death, however, on her parents is “impossible to describe”.
Kim said: “No parent should lose their child. Even though Jo was an adult she was their daughter. It has made me keep going - to support mum and dad who are just the most kindest, loveliest people you could hope to meet. They didn’t deserve this to happen to them.
“They are doing extremely well, they are extremely resilient, they are very strong, and they are so incredibly supportive of me. We have got a very special bond.”