helen joanne "jo" cox (née leadbeater; 22 june 1974 – 16 june 2016) was an english uk labour party politician. she was the member of parliament (mp) for the constituency of batley and spen from her election in may 2015 until her assassination in june 2016. she won the seat with an increased majority for labour in the 2015 general election. she also worked at humanitarian organisation oxfam.