Parties, cabinet and families split – and assisted dying bill still has a long way to go

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, centre, and Rebecca Wilcox, right, daughter of Esther Rantzen, among supporters of Dignity in Dying as they celebrate the result of the vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill, outside parliament on Friday. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

As a few low murmurs broke out in a respectfully reflective House of Commons chamber after its historic vote on assisted dying in England and Wales, one figure in the public gallery had a special interest in the result.

Back in 2015, Rob Marris, the former Labour MP for Wolverhampton South West, had tabled the previous attempt to pass a bill changing the law. It was comprehensively defeated.