Ex-MP Paula reveals she is fighting cancer
FORMER Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff has revealed she is about to start a cancer battle.
The Labour politician, who lost her seat at last December’s election, announced her diagnosis on Twitter yesterday.
She said after discovering a lump, doctors had confirmed she had breast cancer and a treatment plan was yet to be determined.
The news comes just over a week after she announced her intention to fight to be West Yorkshire’s first Mayor.
Polling is due to take place in May next year as the county begins taking control of key powers from Westminster.
Miss Sherriff had also announced her intention to make her political comeback by attempting to be voted on to Labour’s influential National Executive Committee. The 44-year-old, who worked with the police and in the health service before becoming an MP, won the Dewsbury seat from the Tories in 2015 and defended it against the odds two years later.
She joined Labour’s front bench in 2018 as Shadow Social Care and Mental Health Minister.
She successfully campaigned against bed reductions at Dewsbury District Hospital and fought the proposed downgrading of Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. She took on high street retailer WH Smith over its hospital shop pricing and secured a Budget amendment that resulted in the abolition of the ‘tampon tax.’
The Dewsbury constituency also includes Kirkburton, Denby Dale, Skelmanthorpe and Mirfield. Tory Mark Eastwood is now the MP.