Rob Marris’s Assisted Dying Bill (2015)

Labour MP Rob Marris came first in the ballot for private members’ Bills in the House of Commons in the first year of the 2015 Parliament. He decided to introduce an Assisted Dying Bill based on the law that had been agreed by the House of Lords earlier that year. Unlike in the House of Lords, where regular debates had been held on assisted dying for many years, this was the first ever debate on an assisted dying law and the first vote on the principle since 1997. The Bill was defeated at its Second Reading in 2015 after four hours of debate.