General election: what happens next?
What a new parliament and government means for people affected by pancreatic cancer.
A seismic shift in UK politics
Last week’s election has delivered a new Government, and a seismic shift in UK politics. Looking ahead to this Parliament, there are big opportunities to make progress on pancreatic and other less survivable cancers.
Ahead of the election, we joined with 63,505 of our supporters to demand from the next Government on pancreatic cancer. In our open letter to political leaders, we called on the Government to:
- Invest at least £35m a year into pancreatic cancer research to bring about breakthroughs in early diagnosis and new treatments.
- Treat pancreatic cancer as an emergency, so everyone can get diagnosed within 21 days.
- Double the number of people getting potentially life-saving treatment within
21 days of diagnosis.
What happens next
Our campaigning, which is made possible only by your support and action, is already bringing about campaign wins.
The Liberal Democrats included a commitment to bring about greater investment into research for less survivable cancers in their manifesto.
The Green Party also committed to the national cancer plan, and have pledged to support our aim to double survival for pancreatic cancer and the other less survivable cancers. We are also waiting to see what becomes of the Major Conditions Strategy, which replaced the 10-Year Cancer Plan, and the publication of which was delayed by the General Election.
The new Labour government has pledged to double the number of scanners in hospitals, as part of their “Fit for the Future Fund” investment in the NHS. They have also said that these scanners will be equipped with the latest technology, including AI, to speed up cancer diagnosis.
We have welcomed this as a positive development, which we hope can bring down the times for diagnoses of pancreatic cancer, and ensure that more people are diagnosed within the crucial 21 days.
Our goal
We will be seeking to work with as many new and returning MPs as possible, across all the parties and nations, to ensure action is finally taken to improve pancreatic cancer outcomes.
We will keep campaigning hard to make sure that this is the parliament which can deliver more than hope for people affected by pancreatic cancer.