16 June 2016

A British “advice surgery” is where constituents cut to the chase on issues

Murdered (possibly assassinated) British Member of Parliament Jo Cox was shot down, and kicked, and stabbed, outside a library in Birstall, West Yorkshire, England, where she had just concluded a “constituent surgery,” sometimes called an “advice surgery.”

That’s a new term to me, and I would have rather learned about it in any way other than reading the Guardian’s report on her death.

The American equivalent is a listening session for constituents featuring the elected official for the district. For example, a town hall meeting or a clinic for constituents.

I’m referring to Cox’s death as a murder, not as an assassination, because at this point the motive of the killer has not been established. As I’ve observed previously, first reports are always incomplete, and many times not accurate. Resisting the temptation to jump to conclusions has great intellectual merit even if that isn’t emotionally satisfying. But I’m not ruling out the possibility that it was an assassination.