Mary Kelly Foy: Why 2024 was a rollercoaster of a year

If you take one thing from this article it’s this: cancer screening can save your life.

It saved mine.

In January, I had my screening, and I received my diagnosis the following month.

In Parliament, debates and events were taking place that I couldn’t get to.

Constituents had asked me to attend, and I felt terrible for letting them down.

In March, I had surgery at the QE Hospital in Gateshead. I’ll never be able to thank those who looked after me enough.

I’d been dreading the thought of chemotherapy, but as my cancer was caught early, I was referred for a course of radiotherapy instead. I was so relieved.

Again, if you’re putting off a screening appointment, don’t: the earlier you go, the better.

After a brief convalescence, I got back into the swing of Parliament. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill was going through the Commons, and there was a debate on the miners’ strike. I was proud to represent my constituency that day – home of the Durham Miners’ Gala.

Then: radiotherapy beckoned. Unbelievably, it coincided with the General Election.

It made for a tough campaign, but as we reached election day, I had rung the bell. I was cancer free.

Over the last Parliament, my team and I had worked tirelessly in the face of a pandemic, cost-of-living crisis, and failed levelling up promises (not forgetting three useless Tory PMs); so it felt good to double my majority.

After being one of 200 Labour MPs in 2019, I was now one of over 400.

Everything had been a whirlwind, and frankly, it caught up with me in July. I needed more recovery time. Surviving cancer affects people in different ways, especially their mental health.

Just like February, I felt guilty missing votes. But I was comforted by the understanding people showed.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, though: I represent the best constituency in the country. For me, this was encapsulated in how we came together to support St Leonard’s, who had been so badly affected by the RAAC crisis. Thousands of people supported my petition to give pupils at the school more support in their exams – something the Tory government repeatedly denied them.

In August, though, pupils defied expectations. They did brilliantly, and the school recently received an excellent Ofsted report.

October arrived, I felt ready to go again – even though the doctors insisted I take it easy.

After four years of voting against Conservative government’s attacks on working-people, it was surreal to vote for policies that would benefit working-class people. Like the Employment Rights Bill, which tackles the scourge of insecure work and bad bosses.

The National Minimum Wage rose, and there was an end to the injustice of the mineworkers’ pension scheme.

Now we are in 2025, I’ll keep fighting for Durham: more jobs, better pay and public services. Tackling child poverty, improving health services, our schools, and buses!

After surviving cancer, I want everyone to receive the world-class care I did.

I wouldn’t have got through 2024 without it.

And in those difficult months, the support of my constituents meant the world to me.

It’s something I’ll never forget.