Health minister resigns as she undergoes breast cancer treatment
Health Minister Ashley Dalton, who had advanced breast cancer, resigned from her post while continuing chemotherapy treatment.
In his resignation letter, he told Sir Keir Starmer: “I believe now is the right time to make the reasonable arrangements I need to both manage my situation and to withdraw from ministerial duties to focus on becoming a constituency MP.”
Ms Dalton told the prime minister she would be “forever grateful for the trust you have placed in me” and added: “Your government is committed to ensuring that people with long-term health conditions are supported and enabled to return to or continue to work wherever possible.
“It is important that we all understand the value of contributing and participating, and that we do not leave people indifferent due to health or disability.
“My constituents deserve a member of parliament who will represent them with zeal and conviction.
“Whilst oral chemotherapy treatment has not stopped me from being a champion for West Lancashire, I believe now is the right time to make the reasonable adjustments I need to both manage my condition and step back from ministerial duties to focus on becoming a constituency MP.”
He continued: “I return to the backbenches determined to be a strong voice in Westminster for my constituents.
“I will continue to work to improve health outcomes for people living with cancer and support your leadership on the government’s agenda to deliver the change the country is counting on us to do.”
Responding to her resignation, health secretary Wes Streeting said she was “an extraordinary minister… in the face of extraordinary challenges”.
“He has achieved more as a minister than many politicians achieve in their entire careers. I am very sorry to lose him from our team, but I am proud of his decision and the impact he has had,” he said.
Ms Dalton, the MP for West Lancashire, was appointed public health minister in February 2025 following the resignation of Andrew Gwynne and his suspension from the Labor Party.
A month before her appointment, she had been diagnosed with incurable breast cancer, after undergoing surgery and chemotherapy for the same condition in 2014.
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