Fatal Stabbing of British Lawmaker David Amess Was Terrorism, Police Say

Essex police said a 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder. An early investigation has suggested Islamist extremism as a possible motive for the attack, police said late Friday. They said they believe the attacker acted alone.

Two British lawmakers have now died in the past five years after being attacked by members of the public, raising questions about the protection afforded to elected representatives in the country.

British lawmakers usually meet in person with constituents in their local district a few times a month, a key feature of the British political system. Lawmakers who aren’t members of the cabinet aren’t entitled to personal security details except under special circumstances.

In 2016, a far-right extremist stabbed and shot lawmaker

Jo Cox

while she was walking into a meeting with her constituents just weeks before the country voted in a referendum on leaving the European Union. She died of her injuries.

Ms. Cox supported the U.K.’s remaining a member of the EU. During the assault, her attacker shouted words to the effect of “Keep Britain independent” and “Britain first, Britain always comes first,” according to prosecutors.

In 2010, Labour lawmaker

Stephen Timms

was stabbed while meeting his constituents by a woman who was associated with an Islamic extremist and who opposed Mr. Timms’s support for the Iraq war. Mr. Timms was stabbed twice but survived.

In 2000, an aide to a Liberal Democrat lawmaker was killed defending his boss when a man armed with a sword stormed his constituency meeting.

Mr. Amess was one of the longest-serving lawmakers in Britain’s Parliament, having first been elected in 1983.

The veteran lawmaker never served in government as minister but formed part of an influential circle of Conservative lawmakers who pressed the party’s leaders to exit from the EU.

Mr. Amess was on the right of the party, supporting conservative positions on marriage and abortion. The 69-year-old was also a staunch defender of animal rights and campaigned in support of women’s health issues. Queen Elizabeth knighted him in 2015 for his political and public service. He is survived by his wife and five children.

The issue of lawmakers’ security has long been a serious concern in the U.K. In the aftermath of Ms. Cox’s murder and amid high tensions over the Brexit vote, a number of lawmakers expressed concern at threats they were receiving from voters.

But in-person meetings between lawmakers and their constituents are considered a cornerstone of Britain’s political process. Mr. Amess’s last tweet was to publicize a public meeting he planned to hold with locals at the Belfairs Methodist Church in a district of Southend, Leigh-on-Sea.

“In the coming days we will need to discuss and examine MPs’ security and any measures to be taken, but for now, our thoughts and prayers are with David’s family, friends and colleagues,” said

Lindsay Hoyle,

speaker of the House of Commons.

Lawmakers from across the political spectrum expressed shock and paid tributes to the lawmaker.

Mr. Johnson said Mr. Amess was one of the “most kindest, nicest, most gentle people in politics” and praised his campaigning to help the most vulnerable in society.

Dominic Raab,

deputy prime minister, called him a “great common-sense politician and a formidable campaigner with a big heart.”

“Words cannot adequately express the horror of what has happened today,” wrote former Prime Minister

David Cameron.

Flags were lowered in Downing Street in tribute.

Write to Max Colchester at [email protected]