South West Norfolk's Terry Jermy on why he ran to be MP

Labour's Terry Jermy used his maiden speech in the House of Commons to speak about how he wanted to highlight "how bad things had become" for the NHS after the death of his dad Trevor, who died in 2023. 

In his speech Mr Jermy told the Commons about the pressures he saw first hand while his dad was receiving care after a "life-altering" stroke in 2013 and then his later difficulties with pneumonia and Covid.

The 39-year-old, who caused one of the biggest shocks on the night of the General Election after he defeated Ms Truss to the South West Norfolk seat spoke about his dad's health battle during his first speech. 

Terry Jermy beat former PM Liz Truss to the South West Norfolk seat (Image: Jacob King/PA)

He said: "He became an accomplished welder fabricator. Frankly, there was not much that my dad couldn’t fix.

“Strokes come in all shapes and sizes, but having shown no warning signs my dad suffered a major stroke. The physical aspects were painfully easy to see and difficult for a man so used to using his hands, but there was psychological damage too.

“And as a family we saw up close and over a number of years the awfulness of the current process applying for personal independence payments, dehumanising work capability assessments and how little we as a country value the contribution of carers.

“Disabled people and their families continue to come under repeated attack, most recently in Norfolk with changes to the minimum income guarantee.

“After 10 further years with my dad he became unwell and we tried to get him a GP appointment which, like for so many, was difficult.

“When we eventually managed to get him in front of a doctor, he was sent straight to A&E with pneumonia. Then he contracted Covid.

“The pneumonia combined with Covid was too much for his already fragile state and he was placed in a medically-induced coma and as a family we spent every day for the following two months visiting my dad in intensive care at West Suffolk Hospital.”

Mr Jermy said his father was in a quarantined room due to the infection risk, adding: “We were only allowed in one a day for a maximum of an hour in full PPE (personal protective equipment).

“His 65th birthday passed, as did Christmas and new year. When the time came to try and wake him, we were devastated to discover he’d had a further stroke while in the coma.

“Some more weeks passed but my dad never regained the cognitive and physical abilities that he had just a few months earlier and he passed away on January 29 2023 aged just 65.

“During that long time that my dad spent in hospital I saw painfully up close so much of our NHS. I saw ambulances routinely queuing up, the accident and emergency department always busy, the hospital buildings looking old and tired.

“I saw how few staff were available during the week and at weekends the situation was worse. I saw how his catheter bag was left for longer than it should have been. And of course I saw the impact of this whole nightmare on my mother and the rest of our family.

“It was at that point that I decided enough was enough and, if I could, I should try to do something about it.

“And that’s when I decided to stand not particularly because I wanted to win, but I wanted to raise the issues, I wanted someone to acknowledge how bad things had become, how we couldn’t carry on like this.”

Mr Jermy said MPs must remember “why we are here”, adding people are “relying on us to succeed”.

He said: “I hope to do what I can to make their lives that little bit better.”