Sharon Hodgson, MP for Washington and Sunderland West, and the new Shadow Minister for Public Health, said:

“I am honoured to have been asked by Jeremy Corbyn to serve in the Shadow Health team under our new Shadow Health Secretary, Jonathan Ashworth. I am proud to be a part of a team that will stand up for one of Labour’s proudest achievements: the NHS; where I will be specifically holding the Government to account on public health issues.

“Public health policy affects each and every one of us, and it is important that Labour develops a clear policy strategy that shows there is an alternative to the current Tory approach to public health.

“Labour always has, and always will, champion public health as one of the most serious areas of policy that we need to address to benefit society. Sadly, much of this is being undermined or blatantly ignored by the Tories on some of the key health issues facing our country. For the last six years under the Tories and the previous Tory-led Coalition Government, we have seen an utter lack of policy making, to address not only obesity, but also child hunger and malnutrition.

“This, along with the stalling of the ‘Public Health Responsibility Deal’, which was promised to make serious inroads into addressing our country’s health together with a lack of resources given to local council’s to offer wide-ranging and comprehensive public health services, are key areas of concern.

“This is a wide-ranging brief, with several important responsibilities, and I am looking forward to hitting the ground running by holding the Government to account from day one to ensure that the next generation is healthier than the last and not the other way around.”

ENDS