MPs have rejected legislation that would have allowed some terminally ill adults in England and Wales to seek an assisted death, in a closely divided House of Commons vote on Friday.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill was defeated by 286 votes to 270, a majority of 16. The result reverses the Commons’ earlier support for the proposal in June, when 315 MPs voted in favour and 291 opposed it.
The bill would have allowed adults with under six months to live to apply for an assisted death. Any application would have required approval from at least two doctors and an expert panel.
The government adopted a neutral position, leaving MPs to vote according to their consciences rather than directing them along party lines. The vote again showed that views on assisted dying cut across the main parties.
Among the 270 MPs who supported the bill were 190 Labour MPs, 52 Liberal Democrats, 17 Conservatives, 5 Green MPs, 3 Plaid Cymru MPs and 2 Independents. The 286 opponents included 153 Labour MPs, 90 Conservatives, 17 Liberal Democrats and 5 Reform MPs, alongside members of smaller parties.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham did not vote. He said he did not want to “unduly influence the debate”. Keir Starmer, Burnham’s predecessor who has left Parliament, had supported the proposed legislation.
Lauren Edwards, the Labour MP who returned the measure to Parliament through a Private Member’s Bill, said the outcome was “hugely disappointing” and “heartbreaking” for terminally ill people and their loved ones. She added: “Parliament has dropped the ball today. It will be picked up again as it must be”.
The vote followed more than four hours of debate. It was described as tetchier and more irritable than the debate held in 2024. Janet Daby, the Labour MP for Lewisham East, voted against the bill after having supported it previously.
Support for the measure fell by 45 votes from the June division. The brief does not set out why individual MPs changed their positions or what issues accounted for the sharper tone of the latest debate.
The Commons had considered assisted dying in earlier votes in 2015, 2024 and June. The legislation later stalled in the House of Lords in April, when peers submitted hundreds of amendments that effectively filibustered the bill. Edwards then brought it back through the Private Member’s Bill process.
The measure cannot be revived during the current legislative session, which is expected to run until the early next year. Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who introduced the original legislation, said another attempt could come as soon as next year. Whether any future proposal would repeat this bill’s terms or contain different safeguards remains unknown.
An Ipsos poll published on Monday found that two in three Britons supported the legalisation of assisted dying in principle. Campaign group Assist Us To Live called Friday’s result a “victory” for disabled and terminally ill people.
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