Sir David Amess is the first MP since Jo Cox was murdered five and half years ago to have been killed while serving as a member of parliament, one of six who were killed in office since the second world war.
Jo Cox – 2016
The Labour MP was murdered in her constituency by a far-right extremist on 16 June 2016, a few days before the Brexit referendum. The 41-year-old had been the Labour MP for Batley and Spen for just over a year when she was repeatedly shot and stabbed by Thomas Mair – a social recluse – in Birstall, in her West Yorkshire constituency.
Evidence quickly gathered by police, including books found at Mair’s home and an examination of his online activities, showed him to be obsessed with the Nazis, notions of white supremacy and apartheid-era South Africa. During the vicious attack, the murderer said: “This is for Britain”, “keep Britain independent” and “Britain first”.
Ian Gow – 1990
A Conservative MP, a former army officer and friend of Margaret Thatcher, was killed by an IRA car bomb outside his home in East Sussex in July 1990. The IRA claimed responsibility for the murder, stating that the MP for Eastbourne, 53, had been targeted because he was a “close personal associate” of the prime minister.
Sir Anthony Berry – 1983
Five people were killed by the IRA bomb that targeted Thatcher and her cabinet at the Conservative party conference in Brighton in October 1984, including Berry, the only MP to be killed in the bombing of the Grand Hotel.
The prime minister was not herself injured in the attack on the seafront, which took place in the small hours. Dozens were hurt in the blast, some seriously: Norman Tebbit’s wife, Margaret, was among those injured and was left permanently disabled.
Robert Bradford – 1981
Bradford, an Ulster Unionist and a Methodist minister, was assassinated by IRA gunmen in November 1981 at the age of 40. The MP was carrying out a constituency surgery at a community centre in south Belfast. A caretaker was also killed in the attack.
Airey Neave – 1979
Neave, the Conservative shadow Northern Ireland secretary, was blown up one afternoon in March 1979 after his booby-trapped car exploded in the Palace of Westminster as he drove the vehicle from the underground car park. Although he initially survived the attack, the 63-year-old died in hospital shortly afterwards.
The killing, which happened only a few yards from the House of Commons, shocked the country. A small Irish republican group, the Irish National Liberation Army, subsequently claimed responsibility.
The only prime minister to have been murdered in office was Spencer Perceval, who was shot dead in the lobby of the House of Commons in 1812. He was killed by a failed businessman who blamed the prime minister for £7,000 he had lost in a dispute over a Russian debt.