Sir David Amess MP Dies Following Stabbing

On Friday the 15^th of October, Conservative MP Sir David Amess was stabbed to death. According to the BBC, ‘Conservative MP Sir David Amess has died after being stabbed multiple times at his constituency surgery in Essex.

Further, the BBC stated that ‘police said a 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder after the attack at a church in Leigh-on-Sea. They recovered a knife and are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. A counter-terrorism team will lead the investigation’.

‘Boris Johnson has spoken of his shock and sadness at the loss of “one of the kindest” people in politics. Home Secretary Priti Patel has asked all police forces to review security arrangements for MPs “with immediate effect”, a Home Office spokesman said.

Sir David, 69, had been an MP since 1983 and was married with five children. He is the second serving MP to be killed in the past five years, following the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox in 2016. She was killed outside a library in Birstall, West Yorkshire, where she was due to hold a constituency surgery.

In recent days, the British prime minister, Boris Johnson and Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer have paid their respects to this tragedy. The prime minister said Sir David had an “outstanding record of passing laws to help the most vulnerable”. “David was a man who believed passionately in this country and in its future. We've lost today a fine public servant and a much-loved friend and colleague,” said Mr Johnson.

Ms Patel said the killing “represents a senseless attack on democracy itself”, adding that “questions are rightly being asked about the safety of our country's elected representatives”.

Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who spoke to the home secretary on Friday, also said MPs' security would have to be examined. He said Sir David's death would “send shockwaves across the parliamentary community and the whole country”. He told BBC Two’s Newsnight that police were contacting all MPs to check on their safety and reassure them.

Sir Lindsay said he went ahead with his constituency surgery as normal on Friday evening and said it was essential that MPs were able to retain their relationship with their constituents. “We have got to make sure that democracy survives this,” he said.

Sir David, who represented Southend West, was holding a constituency surgery - where voters can meet their MP and discuss concerns - at Belfairs Methodist Church in Eastwood Road North. A Conservative backbencher for nearly forty years, Sir David entered Parliament in 1983 as the MP for Basildon.

He held the seat in 1992, but switched to nearby Southend West at the 1997 election. Raised as a Roman Catholic, he was known politically as a social conservative and as a prominent campaigner against abortion and on animal welfare issues.

Amess was also known for his championing of Southend, including a long-running campaign to win city status for the town. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was a “dark and shocking day”, adding that “we have, heartbreakingly, been here before” with the death of Jo Cox. “We will show once more that violence, intimidation and threats to our democracy will never prevail over the tireless commitment of public servants simply doing their jobs,” he said.