How prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and all other MPs voted in the assisting dying bill

Assisted dying is a step closer to being legal in England and Wales after a historic vote saw proposed legislation clear its first parliamentary hurdle.

A majority of MPs supported a bill that would allow terminally ill adults with a life expectancy of less than six months to end their lives – subject to the approval of two doctors and a High Court judge. There were at-times emotional scenes in the Commons as politicians on both sides of the debate made impassioned arguments for and against what has been described as a “major social reform”.

Kim Leadbeater – the Labour MP for Spen Valley in West Yorkshire – opened the debate on her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on Friday morning. It was the first time the issue had been debated in the Commons since 2015, which made it “long overdue”, she said.

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MPs then voted 330 to 275, majority 55, to approve Ms Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at second reading.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was among those who voted in favour of the bill.

A total of fifteen members of the Cabinet also voted ‘yes’ to the proposals – including Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. Meanwhile eight voted against, including Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Women and Equalities minister Anneliese Dodds, while there was no vote recorded for Scotland Secretary Ian Murray.

Former prime minister Rishi Sunak voted in support, while Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch voted against.

Opposition and pro-change campaigners had gathered outside Parliament early on Friday, and supporters of the bill wept and hugged each other outside as the news came through.

Meanwhile, one of the bill’s most high-profile supporters, journalist and TV presenter Dame Esther Rantzen, said she was “absolutely thrilled” with the result.

The Childline founder said: “I listened to the debate and it was very deeply felt. Members of Parliament, whether they opposed it or proposed it, had obviously given it a great deal of thought, and right up to the end of the debate, I had no idea whether it would be voted through or not.”

Pro-change organisation Dignity in Dying described the vote result as a “historic step towards greater choice and protection for dying people”, while My Death, My Decision said “thousands of people will be heartened” by it.

But Christian Concern branded this a “very Black Friday for the vulnerable in this country”, and said the bill “must be stopped at third reading”.

Labour MP Ms Leadbeater has said a new law would give society “a much better approach towards end of life” and said there was “plenty of time to get this right” in the face of concerns about the bill being rushed through.

She told the BBC: “We have shown Parliament in its best light today. Very respectful, very compassionate debate, irrespective of the different views that people hold.”

Spen Valley MP Ms Leadbeater said a “thorough, robust” committee would now work to make the Bill “the best it possibly can be”.

She insisted the approach was not that assisted dying would be a substitute for palliative care, but that when it cannot meet the needs of a dying person “the choice of an assisted death should be one component of a holistic approach to end-of-life care”.

But Conservative MP Danny Kruger, lead MP for opponents of the bill, said he believed Parliament can do “better” for terminally ill people than a “state suicide service”.

The bill will next go to committee stage where MPs can table amendments, and on Friday a motion was approved to allow the committee considering it to have the power to send for people, papers and records as part of its sessions.

The bill will face further scrutiny and votes in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, meaning any change in the law would not be agreed until next year at the earliest.

Ms Leadbeater has said it would likely be a further two years from then for an assisted dying service to be in place.