STROUD'S new Labour MP Simon Opher says he got into politics to make the world a fairer place after realising poverty was the main driver for many people’s ill health. More than 25,000 people backed the Dursley GP to become Stroud MP in the general election on July 4. The Oxfordshire-born GP’s main focus will be reducing inequality in the country as way to improve people’s health.
The 60-year-old says statistics in Stroud show how people’s life expectancy changes dramatically depending on where they live in the constituency. Dr Opher, who has lived and worked in Dursley for almost 30 years, wanted to become a GP from a very early age. “From the age of 13, I was very keen on that,” he said.
“I worked towards that at school and then went to St Mary’s Hospital Medical School in Paddington to study. I was there for five years. “I liked science and was good at science but wanted to have a way of using it which was more holistic and humanistic.
“I’ve never regretted it. I lived around the country for a bit, Cornwall, the Lake District and Worcester before moving to Dursley in 1995.” He said he was attracted to the area because he likes the countryside but the actual GP job was quite unusual at the time.
“It was quite an unusual GP job. He sent his CV and said if you like the look of it apply, if not don’t bother. “In the end 48 of us applied for the job.
Those were the halcyon days of general practice.” Dr Opher was struck by the community spirit he .