Support as MP vows to fight cancer ‘studs up’
Messages of support have come flooding in after a Kent MP revealed she has breast cancer. Chatham and Aylesford Conservative politician Tracey Crouch confirmed she was being treated for the illness in a post on Facebook.
The 44-year-old former Sports Minister, who has a four-yearold son, says she intends to keep working through her treatment but says she will be unable to attend Westminster in person for the foreseeable future.
And she urged others not to shy away from booking appointments with their doctor during the current health crisis.
In a statement, she said: “It came as a bit of a surprise but it has been caught early and I’m now being treated and supported by the excellent team at the Maidstone & Tunbridge
Wells NHS Trust (MTW).
“It does mean it looks unlikely I will physically be in parliament before summer recess, but I have organised for a proxy vote in my absence and applied to be able to participate virtually. I shall be doing casework and emails, supported by my brilliant team, which I hope reassures constituents that I shall still be working hard for them while I undergo treatment. “I am incredibly competitive but, on this occasion, won’t be playing nicely and intend to go into this challenge with my studs up!
“May I take this opportunity to encourage people to regularly check their bits and bobbins and go and see their GP or call NHS 111 upon finding or seeing anything irregular.
“There is a concern that during the coronavirus pandemic people have not be going to their GP for fear of ‘being a burden during this busy time’, catching Covid-19 or mistakenly thinking their local doctors isn’t open. The key to a better cancer outcome is catching it early so please, if you are worried, talk to your doctor.”
Fellow politicians and constituents have sent hundreds of messages of support to the MP on social media.
The FA qualified football coach also received a special message from her favourite team - Premier League Tottenham Hotspur - which tweeted “everyone at Spurs wishes you a speedy recovery, Tracey”. The former Chancellor, Sajid Javid, sent his best wishes along with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab who simply said “stay strong, thinking of you”.
Close friend and Conservative colleague Helen Grant, the MP for Maidstone and the Weald whose husband was treated for cancer by the team at MTW a couple of years ago, says she knows Tracey will receive the very best care from the team. While, across the political divide, Kent’s only Labour MP in the county, Canterbury’s
Rosie Duffield tweeted her “love and support” to the politician. In response, Ms Crouch said: “Thanks for all the wonderfully kind messages. We both really appreciate them. The plan is to stay fit, healthy and positive... and make this thing regret taking me on! Back soon...” Ms Crouch was first elected as MP for Chatham and Aylesford in 2010 - defeating Labour’s Jonathan Shaw to become the constituency’s first Tory MP.