Kim Leadbeater

Kim Michele Leadbeater (/ˈlɛdbiːtə(r)/; 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.

Kim Leadbeater was born on 1 May 1976 in Dewsbury, to parents Jean and Gordon Leadbeater. She is the younger sister of the late Jo Cox MP (1974–2016). Leadbeater attended Heckmondwike Grammar School, and says that she has lived in "every little bit of" the local area. She played in the school netball team.

She 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.

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 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 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 intended 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.