Constance Ann Cryer JP (''née'' Place; born 14 December 1939) is a British former politician who was the Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

from the 1997 general election up until she stood down at the 2010 general election.

Early life

Born Constance Ann Place in

Lytham St Annes Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population of the built-up area at the 2021 United Kingdom census, ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, she comes from a political family. Her father, Allen Place, was an activist in the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party (UK), Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse work ...

, as was his mother, Dinah Place, a

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

. Ann Cryer was educated at St John's Primary School in

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

and Spring Bank Secondary Modern School in the same town, before attending the Bolton Institute of Technology. She began her career as a clerk for

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British Chemical industry, chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London. ICI was listed on the London Stock Exchange ...

in 1955, moving to the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...

as a telephonist 1960 to 1964.

Politics

Cryer joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament when she was 18 and in 1961 became the youngest serving councillor in the country. She was selected as the prospective Labour candidate for the

constituency, the seat her husband had held, from an

all-women shortlist All-women shortlists (AWS) is an affirmative action practice intended to increase the proportion of female Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom, allowing only women to stand in particular constituencies for a particular political p ...

. She was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

at the 1997 general election, defeating the sitting

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

MP Gary Waller by 7,132 votes. She made her

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

on 16 May 1997. When she entered parliament in 1997 she was joined by her son John who had been elected for

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

; they were the only mother and son partnership in the Commons at that time, although John Cryer was out of parliament during the 2005–10 parliament. Cryer was re-elected in the 2001 and 2005 general elections. After the 2005 general election, she was a member of the Home Affairs Select committee. She voted against the government on many occasions and was a member of the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group during her time in parliament. Cryer voted with the government to increase detention without trial to 42 days for terror suspects. She favours

nuclear disarmament Nuclear disarmament is the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons. Its end state can also be a nuclear-weapons-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated. The term ''denuclearization'' is also used to describe the pro ...

. Cryer attracted media attention, and death threats, for speaking out against

forced marriage Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...

s, honour killings, calling on immigrants to learn to speak English before entering the country, and for being amongst the first people to talk about the issue of gangs of Asian men sexually abusing children in Yorkshire. On 21 August 2008, Cryer announced she would not contest the next general election, due to her health, energy levels and age. In May 2012, Cryer unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the Ilkley ward of City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. She was interviewed in 2014 as part of

The History of Parliament The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in w ...

's oral history project.

Personal life

Cryer married Bob Cryer in 1963. She became a researcher in

social history Social history, often called history from below, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. Historians who write social history are called social historians. Social history came to prominence in the 1960s, spreading f ...

at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

in 1969 before becoming a full-time personal assistant to her husband when he entered parliament in 1974 until his death in a

car accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...

on 12 April 1994. She was in the car with him at the time. Cryer has a son and a daughter, and two stepchildren from her second marriage in 2003 to the Rev John Hammersley, who died a year later. Ann Cryer is president of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Society, having been a member with her first husband from its early days. She became a Justice of the Peace in 1996 and a member of the Bradford Cathedral Council from 1999.

Awards

In December 2009, Ann Cryer was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

by the University of Bradford for services to the community from 1991, before and after becoming Keighley's MP.

Works

* ''Boldness be My Friend: Remembering Bob Cryer'' by Ann Cryer and John Cryer, 1997, Bradford Arts, Museums and Libraries Service,

References

External links

Official Website

* ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/?pid=10142 TheyWorkForYou.com – Ann Cryer MP
The Public Whip – Ann Cryer MP
voting record
BBC News Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cryer, Ann 1939 births Living people Academics of the University of Essex Alumni of the University of Greater Manchester People from Lytham St Annes Politicians from Bradford UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies 20th-century British women politicians 21st-century British women politicians 20th-century English women 20th-century English politicians 21st-century English women 21st-century English politicians A