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| - 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 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. The by-election in the northern seat was triggered by the departure of the incumbent Labour MP Tracy Brabin after she was elected the first mayor of West Yorkshire during local elections earlier this month. The upcoming poll in a traditional heartland constituency is another crucial test for the centre-left party's head Keir Starmer, after Labour lost a by-election in Hartlepool on May 6 -- a seat it had held for decades. The party, out of power since 2010, saw few positive electoral results in an overall poor showing across England. It has led to questions over the direction of leadership under Starmer, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson's ruling Conservative Party notched up further gains in traditional Labour heartlands across northern England. The Batley and Spen by-election could prove make-or-break for Starmer, who was elected to lead the opposition a little over a year ago. "Batley and Spen holds an important place in the Labour Party's heart. And Kim's work to bring people together, just as her sister Jo Cox did, has inspired us all," Starmer said. He added Leadbeater would be a "fantastic champion" for the constituency. Cox was the first female lawmaker to be murdered in the UK and the first MP murdered since the IRA assassination of Ian Gow in 1990. csp/jj/dl
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