Assisted dying bill faces narrow revival path after private member’s ballot
Campaigners seek to revive Kim Leadbeater’s legislation as two former supporters enter the top five of the 2026 private member’s bill ballot.
Supporters of Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill have identified a narrow pathway to revive the legislation following the results of the new private member’s bill ballot. Two MPs who previously backed the measure, Labour’s Lauren Edwards and Liberal Democrat Andrew George, secured second and fourth positions respectively in the draw, offering a potential route to bypass the House of Lords.
The ballot, drawn on Thursday, saw 485 MPs enter, the highest number in the last decade, with 20 selected to present their bills. While Edwards and George hold high positions, the Conservative MP Desmond Swayne, who came top of the ballot, is an opponent of the legislation. Among the 20 selected MPs, support for the bill is split evenly, with 10 in favour and 10 against.
To proceed, an MP must introduce an identical version of the bill to the House of Commons to trigger the Parliament Act. This mechanism allows legislation to bypass the Lords if it passes the Commons in two successive sessions. Leadbeater’s original bill, which would have allowed terminally ill adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for assisted death, ran out of time in the Commons and was subsequently blocked or delayed in the Lords.
George, the MP for St Ives, stated he is considering the assisted dying bill but has a list of at least a dozen other potential bills, including affordable housing and nurse staffing. He plans to consult constituents in West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly over the next fortnight before deciding. George previously criticised the House of Lords for delaying the bill, describing the delay as a "disgraceful abuse of entitlement".
Labour MP Jess Asato opposes the move, arguing that reviving the bill would be a distraction from voter priorities. She cited concerns from the Royal Medical Colleges and the Equality and Human Rights Commission regarding safety, stating that the party should focus on delivering on voter priorities rather than debating a "deeply divisive, flawed and risky bill".