By Hannah Phillips
Hannah is The Jo Cox Foundation’s Research and Policy Manager, leading the work of the Jo Cox Civility Commission. Hannah is a policy and research professional who has worked on local, national and international levels including at the London Borough of Lambeth Council, the UK House of Commons and the United Nations. In addition to her work at the Foundation, Hannah is a DPhil (PhD) Candidate at the University of Oxford where she examines how the phenomenon of abuse towards elected representatives has been politicised as a policy problem in the UK.
Run by The Jo Cox Foundation, the Jo Cox Civility Commission campaigns to address abuse and promote civility in our politics. In January, we launched our call to action, with 28 recommendations that, if implemented, will make a difference in our democracy.
Since we launched the Civility Commission Call to Action in January 2024 we have worked hard to make progress on this vital issue:
- We’ve advocated for the recommendations, making strong and sustained progress on their implementation.
- We were a vital voice on the issue of civility during the May and July elections, including joining forces with the Electoral Commission to call for a civil general election campaign.
- We’ve raised awareness of the issue by speaking at events and in the media.
- We’ve worked in partnership with key stakeholders, liaising closely with the Home Office’s Defending Democracy Taskforce, the Parliamentary security team, and the Local Government Association.
Our recommendations are only a starting point and a part of the solution to the problem of abuse towards elected representatives. We want to be part of a broader culture change in politics where abuse across the spectrum is no longer normalised as part of political participation.
Our long-term vision is a political culture in which diversity is celebrated and robust debate brings us closer in the spirit of Jo’s message that “we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.”
You can read more about all that we’ve achieved since launching the Civility Commission Call to Action in our update report below.