MARY Foy, the new MP for the city of Durham, today made her maiden speech in Parliament, in an opposition day debate on health inequalities. 

MP Foy was elected as Member of Parliament for the city of Durham on the December 12, 2019, succeeding Roberta Blackman-Woods, who retired after 14 years representing the constituency.

She has recently taken on the role of Parliamentary Private Secretary to Andrew Gwynne, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

The MP was raised in Jarrow, the daughter of Irish immigrants.

She has spent her whole life in the North-East, representing people as a councillor in Gateshead for over 13 years, where she held the portfolio for health and wellbeing.

She also worked in Durham with the with the Durham City District CVS for more than 8 years.

The MP chose to make her speech in the opposition day debate on health inequalities as said it is a subject very close to her heart and an issue that she will be continuing to campaign on as MP for the city of Durham. 

She said she has first-hand knowledge of the importance of our NHS and health services, having spent much of her life as a carer for her severely disabled daughter, and claims she is dedicated to fighting to protect health services.

In her maiden speech, she paid tribute to her predecessor, talked about the heritage of the city of Durham, including that of its mining past – and then focused on the inequalities that have such a major impact on the health of her constituents and the wider North-East.

MP Foy also spoke about the birth of her daughter, Maria, born with cerebral palsy, she said: "In 1989 my first daughter came into the world, born 10 weeks premature and needing a ventilator before she could breathe on her own. Unfortunately, this basic piece of equipment wasn’t available at the hospital, nor was it available in any of the surrounding hospitals – this was a direct result of deliberately running down the NHS. Eventually a ventilator was located 30 miles away and Maria was born three hours later by emergency C section. She had suffered brain damage and lived her life with severe cerebral palsy. Mr Speaker, the policies of Governments greatly affect the lives of ordinary people”

She ended the speech by committing to fight for the future of her constituents and the region, she said: “The city of Durham is steeped in history, but it’s the future we fight for. The motto of the Durham Miners may be 150 years old.

"It was adopted by people who also suffered defeats and setbacks but who carried on their struggle and - over time - won improvements in their industry and in the lives of entire communities.

"And this motto is still very apt and it’s one that I hold close to my heart as I start my Parliamentary journey: ‘The past we inherit - the future we build.”