Tracey Crouch

British Prime Minister, Theresa May has appointed Tracey Crouch as the country’s Minister for Loneliness to continue the work of murdered lawmaker, Jo Cox in tackling the isolation felt by more than one in ten people in the UK.

In addition to retaining her position as Sports Minister, Crouch is expected to take up the new portfolio and develop a strategy that would address the problem which research has linked with dementia, early mortality and high blood pressure.

 

“We should all do everything we can to see that, in Jo’s memory, we bring an end to the acceptance of loneliness for good. For far too many people, loneliness is the sad reality of modern life,” Prime Minister May said in a statement.

The Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness, which the 41-year-old lawmaker had set up shortly before she was murdered by a right wing extremist in 2016, had called for a minister to be appointed to lead action on the issue.

According to the latest data from the British government, the majority of people over 75 years live alone while about 200,000 older people in the UK have not had a conversation with a friend or relative in more than a month.