The Conservatives will not contest the by-election to replace Jo Cox MP as a 'mark of respect'.

The announcement was made on Friday lunchtime, around 24 hours since the MP died from injuries sustained in an alleged knife and gun attack in her constituency of Batley and Spen.

The 41-year-old mother of two was attacked after holding an advice surgery in the town of Birstall.

A party spokesman said: "Following the tragic killing of Labour MP Jo Cox, the Conservative Party has decided not to contest the forthcoming by-election as a mark of respect to a much-loved and respected politician."

After the death of the MP was announced the former chairman of the Conservative Party Grant Shapps called on his party to not contest the by-election as a "tribute" to Cox's "extraordinary public service".

The Liberal Democrats have also decided to not contest the future by-election.

The party's president Sal Brinton said Cox was an "outstanding champion for the vulnerable and the dispossed".

Brinton said: "The Liberal Democrats will not contest the forthcoming Batley and Spen by-election as a mark of respect.

"Tim Farron, myself and the whole Liberal Democrat Party pass our sincere condolences to Brendan, their family and the wider Labour movement. Hate and fear will never win.

"An outstanding champion for the vulnerable and the dispossessed, who represented her community brilliantly, was taken from us all."

On Thursday, the MP's husband Brenden Cox said in a statement that he and his family will "work every moment of our lives" to battle the "hate that killed" his wife.

He said: "Today is the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. More difficult, more painful, less joyful, less full of love. I and Jo's friends and family are going to work every moment of our lives to love and nurture our kids and to fight against the hate that killed Jo.

"Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people.

"She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now, one that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her.

"Hate doesn't have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous. Jo would have no regrets about her life, she lived every day of it to the full."

Both sides of the EU referendum have voluntarily suspended their campaigns out of respect for the MP and her family.

The MP was elected in 2015 after spending most of her early life campaigning for a number of cases such as Oxfam.