Murdered UK MP’s sister to stand in by-election

LONDON: The sister of murdered British lawmaker Jo Cox has been selected to stand in an upcoming by-election in northern England, the main opposition Labour party has announced.

Kim Leadbeater, 44, was confirmed late on Sunday as the party’s candidate in the contest in Batley and Spen, the Yorkshire constituency her late sister represented at the time of her death in 2016.

Cox was shot and stabbed multiple times on her way to meet constituents in the town of Birstall by a far-right gunman during the febrile campaign ahead of Britain’s referendum on leaving the European Union. Leadbeater told local activists she was a "proud Yorkshirewoman" who had a "deep understanding of the area". "I feel passionately about the strength there is in such a diverse constituency," she said, adding she was a candidate that would be feared by the governing Conservative Party.