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List of British MPs killed in office

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Not to be confused with List of British parliamentarians who died in the First World War.

Assassination of Spencer Perceval in 1812. Perceval is the only British prime minister to be assassinated.

This is a list of sitting members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom (MPs) who died by assassination or other culpable homicide.

Spencer Perceval is the only British prime minister to have been assassinated, having been shot on 11 May 1812 by John Bellingham, a merchant who blamed the government for his debt. From 1882 to 1990, six MPs were assassinated by Irish nationalists. The murder of Jo Cox on 16 June 2016 was committed by a white supremacist; Cox was both the first female and the first Labour MP to be assassinated. The latest incident, the murder of Sir David Amess on 15 October 2021, was committed by an Islamic terrorist.

List

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Date Victim Party Constituency Assassin(s) Assassin's cause Notes
11 May 1812 Spencer Perceval[1] Tory Northampton John Bellingham Legal redress
Insanity
Main article: Assassination of Spencer Perceval

The only serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to be assassinated, who was shot dead in the lobby of the House of Commons.

6 May 1882 Lord Frederick Cavendish[2] Liberal Northern West Riding of Yorkshire James Carey and others (members of the Irish National Invincibles) Irish republicanism
Main article: Phoenix Park Murders

The new Chief Secretary for Ireland had arrived that day in Dublin and was walking in the Phoenix Park from the Chief Secretary's Lodge to the Vice-Regal Lodge with T. H. Burke, the Under-Secretary for Ireland, when both were stabbed to death.

22 June 1922 Sir Henry Wilson[3] Ulster Unionist North Down Reginald Dunne and Joseph O'Sullivan
(members of the Irish Republican Army) 		Former distinguished British Army field marshal and Chief of the Imperial General Staff during World War I and advisor to the government of Northern Ireland. Shot outside his home in Eaton Square, London.
30 March 1979 Airey Neave[4] Conservative Abingdon Members of the Irish National Liberation Army
Main article: Assassination of Airey Neave

The Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; killed in a car bombing outside the Palace of Westminster.

14 November 1981 Robert Bradford[5] Ulster Unionist Belfast South Members of the Provisional IRA Shot at a constituents' surgery in Finaghy, Belfast.
12 October 1984 Sir Anthony Berry[6] Conservative Enfield Southgate Patrick Magee of the Provisional IRA
Main article: Brighton hotel bombing

Killed in the bombing of the Grand Brighton Hotel during the Conservative Party Conference.

30 July 1990 Ian Gow[7] Eastbourne Members of the Provisional IRA Killed by a car bomb near his home in East Sussex.
16 June 2016 Jo Cox[8] Labour Batley and Spen Thomas Mair Neo-Nazi white supremacism[9]
Main article: Murder of Jo Cox

Shot and stabbed before a constituents' surgery in Birstall, West Yorkshire.

15 October 2021 Sir David Amess[10][11] Conservative Southend West Ali Harbi Ali Jihadism (Islamist extremism)
Main article: Murder of David Amess

Stabbed multiple times after arrival at a constituency surgery meeting in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Dunton, Mark (11 May 2012). "The assassination of Spencer Perceval". The National Archives blog. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  2. ^ "The Invincibles and the Phoenix Park Killings". Irish History Online. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  3. ^ Jeffery, Keith (24 January 2008). "14: Death and reputation". Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson: A Political Soldier. pp. 281–298. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239672.003.0014. ISBN 978-0-19-923967-2.
  4. ^ Hoggart, Simon (31 March 2014). "From the archive, 31 March 1979: Car bomb kills MP Airey Neave". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  5. ^ Borders, William (15 November 1981). "I.R.A. GUNMEN SLAY A PROTESTANT M.P." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  6. ^ "Brighton bombing: 25th anniversary of Sir Anthony Berry's death remembered". Enfield Independent. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Eastbourne MP murdered 25 years ago this week". Eastbourne Herald. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  8. ^ "Labour MP Jo Cox dies after being shot and stabbed in her constituency near Leeds". Daily Telegraph. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  9. ^ J. Wilkie (23 November 2016). "Sentencing remarks of Mr Justice Wilkie: R -v- Mair (Jo Cox murder)" (PDF). Judiciary. Retrieved 24 November 2016. There is no doubt that this murder was done for the purpose of advancing a political, racial and ideological cause namely that of violent white supremacism and exclusive nationalism most associated with Nazism and its modern forms.
  10. ^ Dominic Casciani (11 April 2022). "Sir David Amess: How MP's killer was a textbook radicalisation". BBC News.
  11. ^ Vikram Dodd (22 April 2022). "'I've killed him': David Amess murder was last act of two-year plot". The Guardian.
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