In the first 30 days of her new life as an MP, former actress and scriptwriter Tracy Brabin managed to pack in a five-day fact-finding trip to Iraq, ask seven questions in the House of Commons, sign up for a media campaign to support food banks, make a speech supporting a women’s pension pressure group and join a select committee.

It’s fair to say that the woman who won the Batley and Spenborough by-election in October, following the untimely and tragic death of Jo Cox, hit the ground running.

But, as she explains, she’s getting a huge amount of support from fellow MPs. “There’s a lot of love for me, cross party,” she said, “Everyone wants me to do well, that’s why I’m working so hard.”

Tracy, who is Batley-born but now lives in London, is not afraid to use the word ‘love’, because she knows it’s at the core of what she believes and what Jo believed. As she stated in her maiden speech in the House of Commons, she shares Jo’s mission to “stand tall against those whose only mission is to divide our community.”

Labour candidate actress Tracy Brabin wins the Batley and Spen by-election, at Cathedral House in Huddersfield, which was called after the killing of incumbent MP Jo Cox in June. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Friday October 21, 2016. See PA story POLITICS Byelections. Photo credit should read: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

She says she feels pity for the far right supporters who heckled her on the night she won the by-election: “I find their views totally unacceptable but, more often than not, they are young men who feel marginalised and unloved. They have no love for others.

“We are going through interesting times...Trump, Marine le Pen, the rise of the far right in Europe.... we have to be vigilant about keeping hold of the centre ground.”

At the vote count in Cathedral House, Huddersfield, Tracy faced a very public demonstration of far right politics at work, as hecklers made it difficult for her to give her acceptance speech and made reference to her soap opera background. But she refuses to be intimidated and says: “I’m not afraid of them, but I’m also not a fool. A far right supporter killed Jo. Such intolerant views come from unhappiness and anger. The only way to deal with that is to give people an offer that is inclusive and understands that young white men feel left out of society and are not given opportunities that others are. I will be a campaigner for jobs and training in the cultural industries. A common purpose gives you a sense of belonging.”

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Having spent her entire adult life as an actor, it might seem that Tracy’s critics are right to be concerned over her fitness to be an MP. But what they may not realise is that the 55-year-old has also been a lifelong political activist, Labour Party supporter and trade unionist. What’s more, she was raised on a council estate, had free school meals, and has never forgotten her roots. Her mum still lives in social housing on the Howden Clough estate. Tracy is the champion of the underdog and furious at the way the Government’s austerity measures have hit the poorest sections of society the hardest. “There is a lack of humanity,” she says. “Batley Food Bank handed out 8,000 meals in the whole of last year and 1,000 last week alone.”

Jeremy Corbyn is met by Batley and Spen by-election candidate Tracy Brabin at Mount Pleasant Medical Centre, Batley

The former Coronation Street actress became politicised as a young woman after being attacked and almost raped. Until now, it’s not something that she has openly talked about, but she says it motivated her to become involved in feminist groups. She explained: “It happened because I’m a woman and he was a man. I could have been from any community and any age and he would still have done it. It was about power, not sex.”

In the House of Commons Tracy is a member of the Select Committee for Women and Committee, a role that she’s excited about. As the mother of two daughters she is concerned that everyday sexism is still an issue. She cites a personal example: “It’s not acceptable that my daughters have to walk the gauntlet past a group of jeering men, smoking outside a pub near where we live. I’ve complained to the manager about it. It might seem like a small thing and people say ‘get a sense of humour’ but that attitude just feeds into it.”

Tracy Brabin making her maiden speech in the House of Commons

Tracy, who is married to a fellow actor and director, also has a sister living in Batley and so has retained strong ties with the area that she now visits regularly at weekends for constituency work. She knew Jo and campaigned alongside her. “I won my seat in the most dreadful of circumstances,” she says, “but I really feel that all the campaigning I’ve done and then spotting Jo and thinking ‘she is amazing’ and campaigning with her – I feel that all roads have led here.”

After the dark days following Jo’s death, Tracy is full of hope that the community she represents can live up to Jo’s now-famous words ‘We are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us’.

“I have never seen so much volunteering and creative energy than I have seen in Batley and Spen,” she says. “I think Jo’s murder has been like rocket fuel for some people. It’s made them think about how they want to be seen and what they want to be.”

Flowers for murdered MP Jo Cox in Birstall Market Place one week after her death.