Dame Cheryl Gillan sadly died over the Easter weekend Tributes were paid to Dame Cheryl Gillan in the House of Commons this week. The Conservative MP for Chesham and Amersham sadly died over the Easter weekend from a long illness, prompting an outpouring of tributes from the community. Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said on Tuesday in the Commons that Mrs Gillan made an “outstanding contribution” in her 30 years as an MP, adding she was a “doughty defender of her constituents’ interests”. He said: “Cheryl was a member of this House for nearly 30 years. “In that time, she made an outstanding contribution from both the back benches and the front Benches, and as the first woman to be appointed as Secretary of State for Wales.
“These tributes have been a great comfort to Cheryl’s family, for which they are immensely grateful.” A number of people also left tributes via the BFP’s book of condolences, with former Amersham resident Martin King, who now lives in Australia, writing: “I am so very sad to learn that my MP in the UK, Dame Cheryl Gillan, has passed away. “I’d known Cheryl since 1992 when we fought the General Election for Amersham & Chesham. She was amazing – intelligent, joyful, kind, insightful and fierce when needed. “Cheryl was my mentor and friend in my political activism, and later as town and district councillor and Mayor of Amersham.
Tributes poured in for the Chesham and Amersham MP, who died on Saturday aged 68. Mrs Gillan was made a Dame in the Queen’s New Year Honours in 2018, at the time crediting the honour to her constituents, and served her constituency for almost 30 years. It is now very likely that a by-election will take place, since Dame Cheryl sadly died while in office - but this could take months, according to the UK Parliament website. The website says the Chief Whip of the political party whose MP held the vacant seat – in this case, the Conservative party – starts the process of a by-election by ‘moving the writ’.
Dame Cheryl was vice president of the Epilepsy Society, which is based in Bucks. Its chief executive, Clare Pelham, said: “We have been privileged to have had the support of Dame Cheryl, both as our local MP and as a Vice President of the charity. “She has been an unfailing champion of people with epilepsy and has always taken great pride in sharing our groundbreaking science and research in Parliament. “Cheryl was a frequent visitor to our research centre with a very keen interest in our world-leading genomic research and the potential impact of scientific discovery for people with epilepsy – a cause that was very close to her heart.
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