April 19, 2017 10.49 am This story is over 83 months old

Grantham MP Nick Boles puts himself forward for general election, six months after cancer diagnosis

Grantham and Stamford MP Nick Boles has announced he intends to stand in the general election on June 8, just six months after being diagnosed with cancer for the second time. As previously reported, the former skills minister revealed the news of the cancerous tumour in his head on Twitter on Wednesday, October 26. Boles, who…
Grantham and Stamford MP Nick Boles with Prime Minister Theresa May

Grantham and Stamford MP Nick Boles has announced he intends to stand in the general election on June 8, just six months after being diagnosed with cancer for the second time.

As previously reported, the former skills minister revealed the news of the cancerous tumour in his head on Twitter on Wednesday, October 26.

Boles, who has represented the constituency since 2010, has previously successfully battled Hodgkin’s lymphoma, before he became an MP.

He came out of hospital to vote to support Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit bill back in February, just days after being hospitalised following his third round of chemotherapy.

Now he has revealed that his cancer has been eradicated and he hopes to make a full recovery by the end of the summer.

He said that he supported Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to hold a general election, claiming it was in the national interest for the government to have a “renewed mandate” ahead of the complicated and challenging Brexit negotiations.

Nick Boles, Conservative MP for Grantham and Stamford. Photo: Policy Exchange

The MP said: “Since yesterday morning I have been talking to family and friends, as well local Conservative supporters, about whether to offer myself as the Conservative candidate in the election.

“I have now decided to put myself forward and will be writing to my local Conservative association to ask them to re-adopt me as their candidate.

“Last week I completed my final treatment for non Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“Recent scans have shown that the cancer has been eradicated and doctors tell me I can expect to make a full recovery by the end of the summer.

“Although my current state of health will prevent me from playing an energetic part in the election campaign, I am confident that if I am re-elected I will be able to resume my duties as Member of Parliament with renewed vigour within a very few months.

“Ultimately, if I am adopted as the Conservative candidate, it will be for local people to decide whether they want me to continue in the job.

“But I hope very much that they will give me the chance to turn the page on a testing year and re-dedicate myself to their service as their representative in Parliament.”