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ALL
PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP ON CANCER
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer (APPGC) was founded in
1998 to keep cancer at the top of the political agenda, and to ensure that policy-making
remains patient-centred. The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) brings
together MPs and Peers from across the political spectrum to debate key
issues and campaign together to improve cancer services.
The APPG on Cancer holds regular meetings and has recently discussed
vital issues such as the NHS cancer plan, professional and financial side
effects of cancer, genetics, public health, and cancer and private health
care, attracting an impressive range of speakers and a wide audience of MPs
and cancer organisations.
In 2004 the APPG conducted a parliamentary inquiry into the future
of cancer services in England
which looked at centralism and localism in the NHS and produced
recommendations for government action. Throughout 2006 and beyond, the APPG
will be campaigning for its New Vision for Cancer, to carry on the momentum
established by the first Cancer Plan and to reflect the changing cancer
environment. The New Vision for Cancer outlines a radical new approach to
tackling inequalities in cancer services and calls for a new,
comprehensive, cross-departmental strategy for dealing with cancer in the
21st century. The work of the New
Vision for Cancer will feed into the Cancer Reform Strategy currently being
designed by the Department of Health and other Government policy.
The APPG’s landmark event is the annual Britain Against Cancer
conference. This event is a unique
opportunity to bring together everyone who has an interest in improving
cancer services in the
UK
.
The APPGC is Chaired by Dr Ian Gibson MP
(Labour), with Vice-Chairs John Baron MP (Conservative), Sandra Gidley MP
(Liberal Democrat), Dr Richard Taylor MP (independent) and Baroness Finlay
of Llandaff (Crossbencher).
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The Officers of the APPG
Dr Ian Gibson - Chair
 Dr Ian
Gibson MP was born in Scotland
and educated at
Dumfries
Academy
.
He attended the University of Edinburgh,
where he was awarded a BSc and a PhD in genetics. After working at the Universities
of Edinburgh, Indiana and Seattle, he joined the University
of East Anglia where he was
Dean of the School of Biological
Sciences and served as head of a 10 strong
research team investigating various forms of cancer. In 2003, the
University awarded him an Honorary Professorship.
Ian has been a Member of Parliament for Norwich North since 1997.
In parliament he specialises in science and health issues and chairs the
All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer, and the Associate Parliamentary Food
and Health Forum. He is the former chair of the House of Commons Select
Committee on Science and Technology. He is also co-manager and occasional
pivotal defender in the Parliamentary football team. His work in
parliament has been recognised by MPs and members of the Lords. Ian has
won the e-politix award for health charity champion of the year three
times and also the backbencher of the year award in 2003.
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Dr Richard Taylor - Vice Chair
 Dr Richard Taylor MP has been in the
Independent Member of Parliament for Wyre
Forest
since 2001, and was
originally elected as part of a campaign to conserve
Kidderminster
General
Hospital
.
Richard is a member of the House of Commons Health Select Committee, and
is involved in a wide range of health-related groups in parliament: he is
vice-chair of the APPG on Cancer; vice-chair of the APPG on Local
Hospitals; chair of the Associate Parliamentary Health Group; and a
member of the APPG on Patient and Public Involvement in Health.
Educated at Cambridge
University
and
Westminster
Medical
School
,
Richard has a long-standing professional medical background and most
recently was a consultant physician in rheumatology at the
Kidderminster
General
Hospital
.
He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and member of the Royal
Society of Medicine, as well as the RSPB, the National Trust and the
Severn Valley Railway.
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John Baron - Vice Chair
 John Baron has been the MP for Billericay since
June 2001. Educated at Cambridge
,
John then joined the Army and served in several operational tours of duty
overseas. On his return to the
UK
he became an Investment Manager in
London
specialising in the charities sector. John’s interests include charity
fundraising, walking and history.
In November 2002 John was appointed as
a Shadow Minister for Health. However, he resigned from this post in 2003
in order to vote against the Iraq War. He has since been re-appointed to
this Shadow Ministerial position, where his responsibilities include
patient representation, neurological and long-term conditions, and
cancer. John is a vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on
Cancer and enjoys playing an active role for the group in parliament.
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Sandra Gidley - Vice Chair
 Sandra
Gidley MP is a qualified pharmacist and for many years was a voluntary
antenatal teacher with the National Childbirth Trust. Sandra is currently
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health and a member of the House of
Commons Health Select Committee.
Sandra is the
vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer, vice-chair of
the All Party Parliamentary Group on Men's Health, and serves as co-chair
of the Associate Parliamentary Health Group - a forum dedicated to
generating debate amongst MPs on health issues.
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Baroness Finlay of Llandaff – Vice Chair
Ilora Finlay is a Professor of Palliative Medicine and has worked with Marie Curie Cancer Care since 1987. She was Vice Dean in the School of Medicine, Cardiff University between August 2000 and October 2005. Professor Finlay has recently taken up the position of President at the Royal Society of Medicine. Since her elevation to a Peerage in 2001, she has been actively involved in debates on health issues, particularly relating to health and tobacco. She is a Member of the Select Committees on Science and Technology, and recently on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill. She has published and lectured widely on palliative care, and researched into aspects of cancer palliative care. She established the internationally renowned Certificate Diploma/MSc distance learning courses in palliative care at Cardiff University, from which over 900 senior clinicians worldwide have graduated.
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Lord Lewis of Newnham – Vice Chair
Lord Lewis was born in Barrow-in-Furness and educated at Birmingham School and
took a BSc and PhD degree in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham. He was
a lecturer at Sheffield University, Imperial College and University College
before becoming a professor at Manchester, University College and finally the
University of Cambridge.
He has been a member of the House of Lords since 1989 and was chairman of the
Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution 1986-1991. He has served as
President of the ARC since 2001 and was Warden of Robinson College, Cambridge
1975-1991. He is a member of the Royal Society and numerous foreign academies.
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Earl Howe – Vice Chair
Earl Howe was born in 1951. He was educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he read Mods and Greats. Having inherited his title from his cousin in 1984, Lord Howe left banking to concentrate on his parliamentary activities and on running the family farm and estate in south Buckinghamshire. In 1999 he was appointed Chairman of LAPADA, the country's largest trade association for the fine art and antiques trade. Amongst a number of charitable appointments, Earl Howe is President of the National Society for Epilepsy, President of the South Bucks. Association for the Disabled, Patron of the Chiltern Society, a member of the Committee of Management of the RNLI. He is married with three daughters and a son.
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Baroness Masham of Ilton – Vice Chair
Baroness Masham of Ilton is a crossbench member of the House of Lords. She was born as Susan Lilian Primrose Sinclair, the daughter of Major Sir Ronald Sinclair, 8th Bt, and educated at Heathfield School and London Polytechnic. In 1959 she married Lord Masham, who became Earl of Swinton in 1972. By this marriage Susan Cunliffe-Lister became Countess of Swinton. Baroness Masham is a prominent Roman Catholic convert and a patron of the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology.
Baroness Masham was disabled in a riding accident in 1959, and subsequently became a champion for causes related to disability. She was created a life peer in 1970 as Baroness Masham of Ilton, of Masham in the North Riding of the County of York.
She is an active member of the House of Lords, where she continues to be known as Baroness Masham of Ilton, despite holding the higher title of Countess. She takes a particular interest in issues surrounding disability, health and penal reform.
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The
Secretariat
The secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary
Group on
Cancer is provided by Cancerbackup and supported by a stakeholder group of
organisations including Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Cancer Black Care, Cancer
Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care,
the Men’s Health Forum, the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), the Teenage
Cancer Trust and the Rarer Cancers Forum.
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Britain
Against Cancer Sponsorship
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer would like to thank the sponsors of the 2007 Britain Against Cancer conference who make a valuable contribution to the development of cancer treatments, but who have no control over the APPG’s activities or publications: AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, Novartis Oncology, sanofi-pasteur MSD, Roche, Pharmion and Abbott.
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