The former aide of murdered MP Jo Cox has been presented with her MBE by the Prince of Wales.

Sandra Major, who was Mrs Cox’s senior aide, was with her when she was murdered.

Mrs Major was awarded an MBE by Prince Charles for parliamentary services and services to the community in Batley and Spen.

Mother-of-two Mrs Cox was shot and stabbed as she arrived for a constituency surgery in Birstall on June 16 last year. She had been elected as Labour MP for the Batley and Spen constituency just 13 months earlier.

After the ceremony, Mrs Major jokingly compared her former boss to a Winnie the Pooh character because of her boundless enthusiasm.

She said: “She was really crazy, I always used to say she was like Tigger, she just used to jump about, she had so much energy.

“And she was very inspirational, she was a lovely lady. It was a terrible tragedy.”

Mrs Major described how for many years she has worked in the community from starting a playgroup in a deprived area to acting as a school governor and co-founding Batley foodbank.

Mrs Sandra Major from Liversedge is made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by the Prince of Wales at an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London.

She had attempted to help Mrs Cox following the attack on Mrs Cox by right-wing extremist Thomas Mair.

Pensioner Bernard Kenny, who was stabbed in the abdomen as he came to the MP’s assistance, received the George Medal. The former miner died in August, aged 78.

Police constables Craig Nicholls and Jonathan Wright , who arrived on the scene to confront killer Thomas Mair, received the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for their heroism.

Following the tragedy, Mrs Major and office manager Fazila Aswat returned to work at the constituency office in Batley. They worked alongside Halifax MP Holly Lynch, who oversaw the office until the election of Tracy Brabin as the new MP for Batley & Spen.

Speaking in the aftermath of the attack, Paul nICHOLSON, regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber Labour Party, praised Mrs Cox's five staff as “unsung heroes” for continuing with day-to-day office duties, casework and queries while at the same time dealing with their own grief and later giving evidence at Mair’s trial.