Jo Cox would have been 'hugely excited' by Labour's election

Brendan Cox said his wife Jo had 'huge enthusiasm' and a 'zest for life'

Jo Cox would have been "hugely excited" by the Labour Party's performance in the General Election, her widower said.

Brendan Cox, whose wife was shot and stabbed in her Batley and Spen constituency on June 16, told BBC Radio Four's Today programme her murder failed in its aim to push people apart.

He urged people to take part in a nationwide event to mark the anniversary of the MP's death.

The Great Get Together will see scores of picnics and community events held.

More on this story and others in West Yorkshire

Jo Cox had been an MP for just over a year when she was killed

Mr Cox said: "It was a weird election for me because last time, two years ago, I was with her at the count.

"It was a huge moment of excitement, something that she had aspired to do and this moment of personal satisfaction, excitement about all of the things she might go on and do.

"This one felt very empty just on a very personal level."

The Jo Cox Foundation has joined forces with The Big Lunch for The Great Get Together

He went on: "I think overall she would have been hugely excited that the Labour Party was doing much better than she probably would have anticipated it doing."

The Great Get Together event is expected to be similar the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, when more than eight million people took part in neighbourhood street parties.

Mr Cox, who has written a book called More in Common about his wife, said: "She had this huge enthusiasm, this zest for life, driven by this amazing empathy for people, whether you were a Syrian refugee or an older person in her constituency.

"Jo's killing was designed to divide communities and it's failed in doing that; it's actually brought Jo's community much closer together."

The 41-year-old was shot and stabbed multiple times by right-wing extremist Thomas Mair, who was later handed a whole-life prison sentence for her murder.