How your MP voted as historic assisted dying bill backed
The proposed legislation will now move to the House of Lords for further debate and votes
Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter, Rebecca Wilcox, celebrates with a Dignity in Dying campaigner in Westminster, central London, after the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was passed in the House of Commons. Picture date: Friday June 20, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire(Image: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
MPs have paved the way for assisted dying to become legal in England and Wales despite some switching sides to oppose a new law – reducing its majority by more than half. Kim Leadbeater described backing for her Bill in the Commons as “a convincing majority”, after the number was slashed from 55 in November to 23 on Friday.
The Labour MP declared “thank goodness” after the result, but hospices are among those warning of the “seismic change” for end-of-life care. Staunch supporter Dame Esther Rantzen, who is terminally ill but has said a new law is unlikely to come in time for her, thanked MPs for doing their bit to protect terminally ill people from a “bad death”.
She told the PA news agency: “This will make a huge positive difference, protecting millions of terminally ill patients and their families from the agony and loss of dignity created by a bad death. Thank you, Parliament.”
While 314 MPs voted for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at third reading, 291 voted against. Some 14 MPs switched from voting in favour to against, while only one MP – Labour’s Jack Abbott – switched from voting no to voting yes.
The proposed legislation will now move to the House of Lords for further debate and votes, although one peer has already urged her colleagues they “must oppose a law that puts the vulnerable at risk”.