The blind woman who hoped to be Labour's first openly transgender candidate has been admitted to St George's Hospital for triple heart-bypass surgery.

Emily Brothers stood as the Labour candidate for Sutton and Cheam at this year's general election.

According to the party she was diagnosed with severe coronary heart disease in December 2014, shortly after coming out that she used to be a man.

In a released statement Ms Brothers said: "I had been finding things increasingly difficult, but put that down to hardwork and a loss of fitness.

"It was a routine health check that picked up a potential problem, leading to further investigations."

She admitted to having second thoughts about standing after the diagnosis but said that only lasted a short while.

She said: "I did contemplate withdrawing from the election campaign - perhaps for a moment. My focus and drive isn’t very susceptible to diversion, so I pushed on with my sense of ambition and stuck at the task of representing the interests of hard-working and aspiring people.

"Just weeks after ‘coming out’ I found out about the seriousness of my condition. I felt a great sense of responsibility not to fail at the first hurdle. Whatever happens from here, I hope my political journey will prove a footprint for those who may follow."