Julian Sturdy, MP for York Outer, and Steve Double, MP for St Austell and Newquay, will replace Oliver Colvile, who lost his seat in June’s general election, the group secretariat told C+D yesterday (July 26).

Mr Double and Mr Sturdy were among the 305 MPs who voted in favour of the pharmacy cuts in England, after a parliamentary debate in November 2016. Only one Conservative MP voted against the cuts.

Labour MP Kevin Barron will remain APPG chair, and Liberal Democrat peer Lord Clement Jones will return as secretary. Conservative Baroness Cumberlege will also return to the group as another vice chair, the APPG added.

What are their voting records on health?

Julian Sturdy

According to theyworkforyou.com, Mr Sturdy – who has previously sat on the energy and climate change select committee – has consistently voted for reforming the NHS to allow GPs to commission services on behalf on their patients.

He has also voted against scrapping the Health and Social Care Bill and against entering cross-party talks on reforming NHS commissioning. He has almost always voted against smoking bans.

Commenting on his appointment to the APPG, Mr Sturdy said he was "very impressed with the range of events the group has planned for the coming year".

“Pharmacies play an important role in delivering care in the community, especially in suburban and rural areas, and the government is right to be looking at how they can be better integrated into primary care,” he told C+D this morning.

Steve Double

According to publicwhip.co.uk, Mr Double voted against "immediate extra social care funding and better NHS and social care funding" in the March 2017 budget.

He also voted against tackling the "underfunding of the NHS and guaranteeing sustainable financing of the NHS" in the autumn statement, the website states.

In April, the APPG published a list of seven recommendations for the sector.