'I got back in time to tell her that I loved her before she died': New MP dedicates maiden speech to his mother
A new MP has dedicated his maiden speech to the memory of his mother Sally who died days after he made her proud when he spectacularly won his seat.
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Steve Witherden took the new seat of Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr turning it red for the first time in its history as a part of Labour's landslide, as he unseated Conservative candidate Craig Williams, suspended from the party for betting.
Mr Witherden said he thought his mother Sally Witherden had weeks left to live but that was sadly not the case.
"I thought we had weeks, but on July 9, after Black Rod’s summons and during the Speaker’s speech, I was called out of the Chamber and told that we had hours," he said.
"Thanks to the efficiency of the staff in this building, to whom I am eternally grateful, I was able to get straight on a train back to Wales in time, and thanks to the exemplary care of Dr McAndrew, Nurse Kathryn and their colleagues at Wrexham Maelor hospital, I was able to see my mother before she died, not suffering or in distress, to tell her I loved her, and to hold her hand while she passed away."
He added: "I think that in the final weeks of the short campaign, my mother perhaps did not tell me how ill she was.
"Even when she was deathly ill, she may have used her unforgettable influence—a three-line Whip of her own—to try to persuade my sisters and father not to tell me just how ill she was.
"I would have done the same had our roles been reversed."
