Health Minister with advanced breast cancer resign to 'focus on being local MP'
Ms Dalton told Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in her resignation letter she would be "forever grateful for the confidence you have shown in me"
Health minister Ashley Dalton, who has advanced breast cancer, has resigned from her post, saying now is the time for her to make "reasonable adjustments" to manage her condition and focus on being a constituency MP.
Ms Dalton, the Labour Member of Parliament for West Lancashire, told Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in her resignation letter she would be "forever grateful for the confidence you have shown in me".
She said: "Your Government has committed to making sure that people with long-term health conditions are supported and enabled to return to or continue to work where they can.
"It is so important that we recognise the value of all of us to contribute and participate and that we stop writing people off due to health or disability.
"My constituents deserve a Member of Parliament to represent them with diligence and conviction.
"Whilst my oral chemotherapy treatment will not stop me from being that champion for West Lancashire, I believe now is the right time to take the reasonable adjustments I need to both manage my condition and focus on being a constituency MP by stepping back from ministerial duties."
Writing on X, she said: "I have taken the decision to step down from my ministerial responsibilities to allow me to focus on my job representing you, the people of West Lancashire, while I continue to receive oral chemotherapy treatment."