'Parkinson's as just another phase of my life' - Sir Tony Cunningham

A veteran Labour politician and former teacher, he was the Labour MP for Workington, serving as Shadow Minister for International Development – a role that suited his long-held passion for promoting social justice across the globe.

But over a period of months Tony became increasingly aware that he was struggling to cope physically. “I just knew there was something wrong,” he says.

“I just kept feeling tired, and I wasn’t sleeping particularly well. I just wasn’t myself. I was the MP for Workington, and shadow international development minister. The job involved travelling up and down to London.

“I kept thinking it was my age. But people were noticing that that I wasn’t the same and some of them asked me if I was okay.”

A former county runner, Tony had in his earlier life enjoyed cross country running and played first-team rugby union. He was also a keen footballer, who played for a House of Commons football team in his 50s.

In 2013, he sought a medical opinion, and Tony’s GP tentatively suggested he may have Parkinson’s Disease but added: “It’s unlikely.”

“But I was feeling worse and worse, and eventually, on a Wednesday night in November 2014, I went to see the House of Commons doctor.

“She told me: ‘You’ve got Parkinson’s.’ She also said I was seriously depressed, which I something that can come with Parkinson’s. To confirm her diagnosis, she sent me to see a consultant at Guy’s Hospital in London the following morning.”

With his wife unable to get to London at such short notice, Tony accepted an offer of support from his fellow MP and friend Lisa Nandy, who went along with him to the consultation so she could take notes and ask questions.

Recalling the diagnosis confirmation, Tony says: “The first thing I thought of was that Muhammad Ali had Parkinson’s. My thought process was that I’d end up like him; he was in an awful way.

“But the consultant told me it was probably the beatings he’d taken in the ring that caused him to be in a wheelchair rather than the Parkinson’s.”

Today, a decade after that formal diagnosis, and in the week of World Parkinson’s Day, Tony wants to speak out in the hope that sharing his experience of the disease will help others who face the same challenge.

He wants also to highlight the work of Transforming Parkinson’s Care in Africa, a groundbreaking research collaboration that is helping sufferers in seven countries. Tony’s consultant, Professor Richard Walker, is the project's director.

Both a pragmatist and an optimist, Tony knows the disease has no cure, but he focuses not on the fear the condition can generate, but on positive aspects of living with the condition that can be managed with treatment. 

He recalls some of the questions prompted by the diagnosis.

Would it stop him enjoying real ale, or prevent him from running, he had asked his consultant. “You’ll be able to do both,” was the reply. Tony also remembers his relief at finally knowing why he felt as he did for 19 months.

“I think the Parkinson’s was catching up with me,” he says. “I’ve had it for over ten years now.

“I don’t hide the fact that I’ve got it, but nor do I go out of my way to broadcast it. Someone once told me: ‘You have Parkinson’s, but it hasn’t got you.”

“I get tired easily, I don’t sleep well, and I shake a bit. It varies from day to day. You have good day and not so good days. It can depend on medication or what you’ve had to eat. I try to ignore it as much as I can.

“I still go for a beer; I still run three times a week; I think that the running that helped to keep it in check. Exercise is good. Not everyone can run but if you can do exercise, it’s good. I’m getting slower but I still get out.

“Running has helped me enormously, but I appreciate it’s not for everybody. Parkinson’s is a very individualistic disease.”

Despite Parkinson’s being a degenerative condition, Tony insists he can still enjoy life.  “I know I’m never going to get a lot better,” he says. “You can slow it down and you can still enjoy life. I see it as just another phase in my life.

“I’ve been extremely fortunate. I worked as a teacher, which I loved; and I was a politician, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

“Now, I enjoy making bread and give it to neighbours and friends; it’s a kind of therapy – and people tell me the bread is nice! I make cheese and tomato bread, and Guinness and treacle bread. It’s just when I’m feeling like it.”

Referring to his links with Africa, he says: “I did voluntary service overseas in Tanzania from 1988 to 1992; I was on the international development committee at the European Parliament and introduced bill banning landmines.

“And I was shadow international development minister for 18 months. So I’ve long been interested in what happens in Africa. What Professor Walker and his colleagues are doing is incredible.

“Having Parkinson’s is difficult but imagine how much harder it would be if you’ve got no medication, nobody to diagnose it; nobody to care for you. If you live in Tanzania or Ethiopia it would be a lot worse than it is in Britain or the US.

“I’m delighted that Professor Walker is doing something about the situation for people with Parkinson’s in Africa.

“He’s been going out to Tanzania for years.

“It matters to me because most of my working life I’ve been involved in international development and have been to 18 or 19 African countries – to Ethiopia twice, to Gabon, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia.

“I have seen just how desperate the situation can be.  When I went out to Africa, it was usually to a famine, or to visit a prison or a hospital. So I’m delighted there’s an organisation in this country doing something about the scourge of Parkinson’s in Africa.

“I don’t want people to see me as an ex-MP with Parkinson’s. I’ve tried to ignore it and get on with my life. I see it as just another phase of my life. I hope speaking about it can blow away some myths.”

Summing up his attitude to the condition,  Tony adds: “I’ve got Parkinson’s, but it hasn’t got me.”

Tony Cunningham was knighted in 2012 for services to politics and the public. The son of a dock worker, who grew up on the Salterbeck council estate in Workington, he worked as a teacher at Netherhall School in Maryport for 11 years.

He was a town councillor and Workington mayor from 1990 to 1991 and later Council Leader . In 1994, to was elected as Euro MP for Cumbria and North Lancashire, a role he kept for five years.

Sir Tony served as Workington's MP for 14 years, becoming a government whip under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and in his work with UNICEF and other charities he visited 18 African countries. International aid has always a lifelong passion.

In 1995 he published the Cunningham Report, the first report to call for the complete and outright ban of landmines. It was adopted by the European Parliament and has now been implemented by 164 countries worldwide.

When he received his knighthood in 2012, he said the honour recognised not only his own work, but also the efforts of his family, including his wife Anne and his constituency colleagues Jeannette Smith, Sue Scoon and Julia McCarron.

He retired in 2015.

Read more: 'You are not alone' - sufferers can be helped, at home and abroad

For more about World Parkinson's Day click on the link.