Former Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth has revealed how he turned to Shakespeare to regain his speech after suffering a stroke at the age of 47. Mr Ashworth said he originally feared he would never speak again following the New Year's Day incident.
Previously a senior figure in Sir Keir Starmer's opposition team, who served as shadow health secretary, Mr Ashworth was honoured on Tuesday with a CBE for his political and parliamentary service and charity work. The Princess Royal bestowed the honour at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.
Speaking to journalists, Mr Ashworth shared how he recited lines from Shakespeare's Hamlet while recovering at Leicester Royal Infirmary. “They must have thought me very eccentric in the hospital, because I sat there quoting Shakespeare monologues,” he said. “There's a monologue about how a man is so infinite in his faculties and so noble in his movement and reason, and yet in the end, it's just dust.”
Mr Ashworth, the former MP for Leicester South, said he was “so worried” he would not be able to speak at the investiture. He also refused to rule out a return to frontline politics, quoting Tony Benn: “There's no final defeats or final victories, you just keep on going.”
Also honoured by Anne was D-Day veteran Bernard Morgan, 102, who was made an MBE for services to volunteering and history. TV sports presenter Hazel Irvine, 60, received an MBE for services to broadcasting and charity.
