Susie Cleverly, 49, was diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer in December 2021 after spotting dimpled skin under her right breast the previous month – almost a year to the day. At the time, her husband was a minister in the Foreign Office, where Liz Truss was foreign secretary in the Boris Johnson government. The couple, who have been married for 29 years after meeting at university and have two teenage sons, spoke to Sky News’ Beth Rigby Interviews… about her diagnosis, how they coped and what it’s been like to deal with it. holding one of the great offices of the state. After being diagnosed, Mrs Cleverley rang her husband, who was on the train to Westminster, and told him the doctor thought it was cancer. “I burst into tears and I think I cried most of that day,” she said. “I just couldn’t get the words out” Mr Cleverley, 53, who has been MP for Braintree since 2015, added: “I said I would come home. “I had to call my private secretary at the Foreign Office saying ‘can you cancel the meetings because I have to go home’ and he said ‘is everything OK minister? “I tried to say that Susie might have cancer, I just couldn’t get the words out, I couldn’t speak – I love to speak, but I just couldn’t speak. “I said I’d text you and, you know, this organization is amazing. Liz Truss was my boss at the time, she was absolutely amazing. “I went home, Susie and I talked it over, and I tried to phone again to explain what was going on – and I still couldn’t say a word. “For the next two hours it was all on WhatsApp and it really hit me, I’ve never felt anything like that before.” Image: Susie Cleverly found dimpled skin on her right breast almost a year ago to the day, which turned out to be breast cancer “The scariest word was cancer” Mrs Cleverley then had about eight mammograms in one day, but they couldn’t see anything until a CT scan found three lumps in her breast and a lump in her arm. After an MRI, doctors found more than 12 lumps. “I wasn’t scared when they told me that,” she said. “I think the scariest thing was the word ‘cancer’, so once I faced cancer, I thought I’m going to make it.” Mass wave of empathy from all MPs Mr Smart said family and friends were “fantastic”, with many shaving their heads in solidarity and charity. He said despite politics being “super competitive”, MPs from all parties had been very supportive. “There was this huge wave of empathy and friendship, even from people I didn’t know particularly well, it was really touching,” she said. Mrs. Cleverly’s treatment made her incredibly ill, with her nails falling off, infected hives, her face ballooning and stomach and mouth ulcers. She has now had a mastectomy but is still on immunotherapy to reduce the risk of recurrence and is on a waiting list for reconstructive surgery. “I feel great, I feel a lot more like me,” she said. “I thought I might lose her” But Mr Smart admitted there were “a couple of times” when he thought he might lose his wife. Holding back tears, she said: ‘I haven’t thought about my own mortality, and I’ve certainly never thought about losing Susie, or what that might be like – and then suddenly you’re faced with it. And, we are close.” The MP, who was appointed foreign secretary by Ms Truss in September, said he would not have been able to take the job had it been earlier in the year when he was undergoing chemotherapy. Mrs. Smart said, “I would say, do it. But you could do it.” Her husband added: “If I had been asked maybe six or seven months ago when you were going through chemotherapy, I don’t think I could have given her the energy and focus that I think the job deserves. “He’s always been very, very supportive of me and my career. And I travel a lot. I think the big thing out of it is, I think both of us, maybe even me, are less awful for the time we have together. “So when we’re together, we’re very, very conscious of making that time really valuable and meaningful.” Speaking about his work, Mr Smart added that he truly believes the Ukrainians will succeed in taking their country back from Vladimir Putin, with the best option now being for the Russians to withdraw. He added that Russia should give back all the Ukrainian land it has taken back, including Crimea. “We will continue to support the Ukrainians until that happens,” he said.
