Which MPs and peers raise cancer most in Parliament?

Clive Jones, Ashley Dalton, Jim Shannon lead the ranking of MPs and peers on cancer, based on every Hansard contribution since 9 July 2024.

How is the cancer ranking calculated?

Vital Signs ranks MPs and members of the House of Lords by a weighted score of their Hansard contributions on Cancer — speeches, written questions and committee work — over the course of this Parliament (since 9 July 2024). Ministerial statements and debate speeches carry more weight than written answers; every contribution counts at full weight however early in the Parliament it was made. Contributions are matched to this topic on whole-word keyword matching, so "send" is never mistaken for SEND and "career" is never mistaken for care. Ministers and shadow ministers are labelled, because answering on a brief is their job rather than a choice to raise it; their scores are shown as-is, not adjusted.

Cancer: which MPs and peers raise it most | Vital Signs

Since the start of this Parliament, 598 MPs and peers have raised Cancer in Hansard debates, written questions and committee work. The volume of debate has stayed broadly steady over the last few months.

The debate has been led most vocally by Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat, Wokingham), whose score of 234.0 is 1.1× that of the next most active contributor, Ashley Dalton.

By party, Labour leads with 53% of weighted activity, followed by Liberal Democrat (19%) and Conservative (17%). The House of Commons accounts for 84% of all weighted activity on Cancer.

Most cited doctors & academics

UK clinicians and academics most frequently quoted as expert sources in press coverage of cancer.

Dr Juliet Usher-Smith
3 citations
University of Cambridge
“We need to get better at identifying women at highest risk of breast cancer so that we can intervene early, when there are more options for treating, or even preventing, their disease. The current Nice criteria used in general practice are missing up to 95% of women under 50 who will go on to develop breast cancer.”
GPs’ breast cancer guidelines ‘miss’ 95% of young women who will develop disease
Dr Sowmiya Moorthie
1 citation
from the charity Cancer Research UK
“Any changes must be accessible and equitable, taking into consideration the anxiety that extra referrals might cause for women”
Breast cancer checks missing most women under 50 who are at risk, says study
Prof Richard Simcock
1 citation
Chief Medical Officer at Macmillan Cancer Support
“We're seeing an increasing number of people asking about these two products. We're worried that they're not getting up-to-date, effective and accurate information about what these drugs are capable of.”
Undercover reporter offered fenbendazole and ivermectin as cancer treatment
Martin Rolles
1 citation
Consultant oncologist at the South West Wales Cancer Centre
“warned the drugs could interact with proven cancer medication and either make treatment more toxic or less effective”
Undercover reporter offered fenbendazole and ivermectin as cancer treatment
Prof Montserrat García-Closas
1 citation
Institute of Cancer Research, London
“There will be a balance to strike: the Nice criteria are much easier to implement, but miss a large proportion of women at elevated risk. But a full risk assessment including genetic testing will place a heavy burden on resources.”
GPs’ breast cancer guidelines ‘miss’ 95% of young women who will develop disease
Dr Simon Vincent
1 citation
Chief scientific officer at Breast Cancer Now
“These findings highlight the limitations of Nice's current referral criteria, and so this research must now be carefully considered as part of the current review of its family history guidelines.”
GPs’ breast cancer guidelines ‘miss’ 95% of young women who will develop disease
Victoria Sanz-Moreno
1 citation
Professor of cancer cell and metastasis biology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London
“Our research has identified a shared weakness of aggressive cancer cells that could be targeted across many cancer types”
Fiona Thistlethwaite
1 citation
Professor, consultant medical oncologist at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust
“This represents an exciting step forward in efforts to develop new treatment options”

Vital Signs — Cancer

Vital Signs — Cancer

Mentions since the start of this Parliament

How the ranking works

Debate analysis

Media coverage

Most cited doctors & academics