UPDATED 4.13pm The New Zealand Labour Party's current housing spokesman and Te Atatu MP Phil Twyford has paid tribute to British Labour MP Jo Cox who was shot and stabbed to death overnight.
LISTEN ABOVE: Phil Twyford speaks with Newstalk ZB reporter Christina Campbell about Jo Cox
MORE: British MP dies after shooting, stabbing
Twyford was director of Oxfam International’s campaigning and advocacy, based in Washington DC, when he hired Ms Cox to run the European division from Brussels.
“It is really a shock. It is an awful, violent thing to happen. She kind of represented the best of what you want an elected representative to be - very brave, outspoken, smart, and really dedicated to serving her constituents.
“She was just a huge amount of fun to work with, and had a great sense of humour. She was very proud of her working class background in Yorkshire.”
Mr Twyford said he had followed his former colleague’s career with interest.
“She was a great advocate for social justice and internationalism, and by all accounts was universally liked in the British parliament and rated as a rising star.”
Mr Twyford said he thought all politicians, including in New Zealand, were aware of the danger of such incidents and took threats seriously.
“But you are a politician, and your job is to serve the community. There is no getting away from that. Sometimes just really bad things happen in life, and Jo...was outside one of her regular constituency clinics.”
Prime Minister John Key said it's a tragedy, and nobody should lose their life because someone disagrees with them.
He said New Zealand MPs do take precautions, and this is another reminder of why it's necessary.
"Inevitably, we are out and about with the public and there's always that risk that someone that's clearly suffering some mental health issue would go and do something like this."
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