AN MP took centre stage during a theatre show when he came to the aid of a heart attack victim.

When a fellow audience member suffered a cardiac arrest during a performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night on January 24, Dartford MP Dr Howard Stoate came to the rescue.

The practicing GP performed CPR on the elderly male victim until paramedics arrived at the Wyndham Theatre in Charing Cross Road, London, and took him to University College Hospital in Bloomsbury, where he is now recovering.

Speaking afterwards, Dr Stoate said: “Clearly in this instance I was simply doing my job as a doctor, and I am glad that I was able to assist.

“However, this incident helps to highlight the importance of first aid training. Providing a heart attack victim with immediate CPR improves their chances of survival by 50 per cent.”