Biography

Sir David Anthony Andrew Amess (26 March 1952 – 15 October 2021) was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Southend West from 1997 until his murder in 2021. He previously served as MP for Basildon from 1983 to 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, he was a Catholic with socially conservative political views, and was in favour of Britain leaving the European Union. On 15 October 2021, Amess was fatally stabbed at his constituency surgery at Belfairs Methodist Church Hall in Leigh-on-Sea. Amess's murder was later declared a "terrorist incident" by the Metropolitan Police. The investigation, led by Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command, explored "a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism". The killer, Ali Harbi Ali, a British citizen of Somali descent, was arrested at the scene, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order. A post-mortem examination determined Amess died from multiple stab wounds to the chest.