Shrewsbury Ukip candidate Suzanne Evans tells of her battle with fat condition

Ms Evans, the Shrewsbury-based deputy chairman for Ukip, suffers with lipoedema, which sees an abnormal build-up of fat cells in her legs, thighs and arms.

Despite suffering with the condition for most of her life, Ms Evans, 50, was only formally diagnosed with the disorder four years ago, and in 2013 set up charity Lipoedema UK with the help of St George's Hospital in London.

For years Ms Evans believed she was "just fat", with doctors even telling her she was.

She said: "Being diagnosed was bittersweet, I was in complete shock that I had this condition that I hadn't even heard of that's actually incredibly common but wasn't in medical textbooks, nor was it taught in medical school.

"I thought I was just fat, a doctor even told me I was fat about 10 years ago. I tried dieting, I tried everything, I was obsessed, so hence my shock when I was diagnosed because I thought I knew everything there was to know about nutrition because of my efforts to try and lose weight, which of course were unsuccessful.

"When I was diagnosed one of the first things I said was so it's not my fault, I'm not just fat.

"What was slightly depressing for me was realising you can't control it."

Ms Evans' diagnosis was made at St George's Hospital. It was initially thought she may have had lymphoedema – a chronic condition that causes swelling in the body's tissues.

Sufferers of lipoedema see their legs become symmetrically enlarged from the ankles right up to the hips but the feet and hands are unaffected.

The build-up of fat often creates a ring of fatty tissue overlapping the top of the feet, as if there were tight bands around the ankles. The condition occurs almost exclusively in women and is passed on genetically.

Ms Evans' daughter, mother and grandmother also have the condition.

She said: "Before being diagnosed we just thought it was our genes and that it was our pure bad luck and that we'd drawn the short straw.

"We even called it the Roberts' complaint after my great aunt Roberts who also had it."

Ms Evans said she set up the charity in a bid to help other lipoedema suffers but also raise awareness.

She said: "People refuse to believe it's a condition. People can actually be very cruel, there's the name calling, getting called thunder thighs, tree trunk legs. They think you're just fat and that you should lose weight. I could lose a bit of weight but that wouldn't make any significant difference.

"People don't realise that it's a painful condition, it's ultimately disabling. I could be in a wheelchair in 10 years because of it.

"Forty per cent of women with lipoedema develop eating disorders.

"Lipoedema isn't just cosmetic, that's just the tip of the iceberg."

As one of the trustees of Lipodema UK, Ms Evans hopes to one day introduce mobile clinics in order for more diagnoses to be made, in the hope of eventually setting up a permanent clinic in the UK. For more information visit www.lipoedema.co.uk