Labour  MP Jo Cox had been closely involved in helping a regional daily’s award-winning campaign to combat loneliness, the paper has revealed.

Parliament is being recalled today to enable politicians to pay their respects to the Batley and Spen MP who was killed outside her constituency office in West Yorkshire on Thursday.

Now it has emerged that she tabled a Commons motion in support of the Yorkshire Post’s award-winning loneliness campaign and met senior editors of the paper to discuss how to take it forward.

Her role was revealed in a piece by Lindsay Pantry, the lead reporter on the campaign, published on Friday in the wake of the MP’s death.

The campaign – entitled ‘Loneliness: The Hidden Epidemic’ was voted campaign of the year by the public in a 2014 vote organised by the News Media Association.

In her piece, Lindsay said that Mrs Cox had been using her “unstoppable energy” to bring together politicians, charities and policymakers to tackle the issue.

Earlier this tear, in the run up to the campaign’s second anniversary, she met with Linsday and YP managing editor Nicola Furbisher to discuss the project at length.

Said Lindsay: “Jo’s passion for ending loneliness was abundantly clear – and it rubbed off on all those who she spoke to about it, including us. It was an exciting time and we were looking forward to working with Jo and her team on the commission.”

Nicola described Mrs Cox as a “whirlwind of activity” and “a complete inspiration.”

Speaking in February, she told the YP: “The scale of this crisis shocks me to the core. Every time I meet someone who is lonely, or a volunteer or charity working with people who are isolated, the scale of the challenge really blows me away. It’s also clear that loneliness is not just an issue for older people, but for so many in our communities.”

Mrs Cox had also tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament congratulating The YP on its campaign, and calling on the government to require all health trusts and local authorities to include tackling loneliness in their health and wellbeing strategies.