Tessa’s final campaign
“All we now ask is that doctors and health systems learn from each other”
Following her own diagnosis with a terminal brain tumour, Tessa witnessed the huge national inequalities in access to innovative treatment and excellent care for patients.
Saddened by what she had seen and determined to do what she could to improve the lives of future brain cancer patients, Tessa spent the final months of her life raising awareness of the situation faced by people with brain cancer and worked tirelessly to understand the changes that were needed to improve the situation. Tessa used her final parliamentary speech to fight for lasting change for all cancer patients:
All patients must have access to the “latest and greatest science”.
Their quality of life matters and healthcare services should reflect this.
People need to come together and unify their efforts to create lasting change.
Tessa’s life
“I’m most proud of setting up Sure Start”
Tessa's commitment to supporting high quality Early Years provision for children and mothers spanned nearly 50 years, beginning during her time working as a social worker in her 20's.
As Minister for Public Health, she was able to channel her vision with career defining success into the national delivery of Sure Start, one of the greatest success stories of the New Labour Government.
She continued to be passionate about the continued delivery of this incredible service for families because she knew that “the first three years of a child’s life are absolutely critical in determining the chances they have subsequently.”
“Without Tessa there would have been no London 2012 Olympics”
When Tessa became Culture Secretary, she played a major role in the decision for London to bid for the Olympic and Paralympic games and she was a vital part of the team which won the bid. To win the bid was extremely important to Tessa as she believed that hosting the Games was a unique opportunity to regenerate large parts of East London and increase participation in sports, especially among young people.
Lord Coe later said of her:
"Quite simply, without Tessa there would have been no London 2012, and without Tessa they would not have been the success they were.”
Family life and becoming a grandmother
Tessa was incredibly proud of her family and deeply loved her husband David, their children Jess and Matthew, her son-in-law Finn and her daughter-in-law Ella. She was also very excited to become a grandmother for the first time following the birth of little Ottie in 2017.
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