She told parliament that her legislation addressed “one of the most significant issues of our time,” and asked colleagues to help families who face “the brutal and cruel reality of the status quo.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was among 234 Labour MPs voting for assisted dying, along with 14 other cabinet ministers. But Labour was deeply split, with 147 MPs voting against, including eight cabinet ministers such as Starmer’s deputy Angela Rayner and Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

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While proponents of assisted dying argued it was a compassionate way to ease unbearable pain in the final months of life, critics had argued it was a threat to the old, the disabled, and those with complex medical conditions whom, they argue, might be pressured into a premature death.

Rishi Sunak, the former prime minister, was among 23 Conservatives who voted in favour, although the bulk of the party, including Sunak’s successor as leader, Kemi Badenoch, voted against. While the SNP abstained, all other mainland parties were split, except the Greens, all four of whom backed the bill.

Streeting had argued ahead of the vote that training staff to deal with assisted dying would add costs to the country’s National Health Service. He also pointed to the uneven availability of palliative care in Britain, suggesting that some patients may feel that they effectively have no alternative but to opt for assisted dying.

Assisted dying is legal in a handful of European countries, Canada, all Australian states and the ACT, New Zealand, Colombia, Ecuador, and in 10 American states and the District of Columbia.

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