List of British MPs killed in office explained

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

Date	Victim	Party	Constituency	Assassin(s)	Assassin's cause	Notes
11 May 1812	Spencer Perceval^[1]	Tory	Northampton	John Bellingham	Legal redress Insanity	See 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	See 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		See 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		See 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]	See 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)	See main article: Murder of David Amess. Stabbed multiple times after arrival at a constituency surgery meeting in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.

See also

• Records of members of parliament of the United Kingdom

Notes and References

1. Web site: The assassination of Spencer Perceval . Mark. Dunton. 11 May 2012. The National Archives blog. 16 June 2016.
2. Web site: The Invincibles and the Phoenix Park Killings . 31 July 2012. Irish History Online. en-UK. 16 June 2016.
3. Book: Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson: A Political Soldier . 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199239672.003.0014 . Jeffery . Keith . 24 January 2008 . 14: Death and reputation. 281–298 . 978-0-19-923967-2 .
4. News: From the archive, 31 March 1979: Car bomb kills MP Airey Neave. Hoggart. Simon. 31 March 2014. The Guardian. 16 June 2016.
5. News: I.R.A. GUNMEN SLAY A PROTESTANT M.P.. Borders. William. 15 November 1981. The New York Times. 0362-4331. 16 June 2016.
6. News: Brighton bombing: 25th anniversary of Sir Anthony Berry's death remembered. Enfield Independent. 12 October 2009. 16 June 2016.
7. News: Eastbourne MP murdered 25 years ago this week. Eastbourne Herald. 28 July 2015. 16 June 2016.
8. News: Labour MP Jo Cox dies after being shot and stabbed in her constituency near Leeds. Daily Telegraph. 16 June 2016. 16 June 2016.
9. Web site: Sentencing remarks of Mr Justice Wilkie: R -v- Mair (Jo Cox murder). 23 November 2016. 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.. J. Wilkie. Judiciary.
10. Web site: Dominic Casciani. Sir David Amess: How MP's killer was a textbook radicalisation. BBC News. April 11, 2022.
11. Web site: Vikram Dodd. 'I've killed him': David Amess murder was last act of two-year plot. The Guardian. April 22, 2022.