Ann Cryer MP

Ann was born at St. Annes on Sea but grew up in Darwen, Lancashire. Her Grandmother, Dinah Place, was a suffragette and Independent Labour Party member, so politics and socialism have been part of Ann's life from an early age. She joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament at the age of 18 and, shortly afterwards, the Labour Party where she became the youngest serving Councillor in the country when she was elected to Darwen Council at the age of 22.

Ann was already steeped in politics when she met Bob Cryer at a Labour Party Conference in Blackpool. A couple of years later they were married. Their two children John and Jane were born and the family moved to Oakworth in Keighley in 1965.

Bob was selected as Labour candidate for Keighley and won the seat in the two General elections of 1974. He held on to the seat in 1979 with just a 74 vote majority, but lost it in 1983 following boundary changes. During this time Ann was a full time mum and part time assistant to Bob.

Bob returned to the House in 1987 as MP for Bradford South. He was killed in a car accident in 1994. In 1995, Ann was approached by members of Keighley Labour Party to seek nomination as candidate. She eventually agreed and secured the nomination. In 1997 she was elected as MP for Keighley, kept the seat in 2001 and 2005 (where, against the trend, she increased her majority and defeated the leader of the BNP). This was quite an achievement given that she lost her second husband, the Reverend John Hammersley, to cancer in November 2004. Ann met John on a tour of the 'New South Africa' in 1995 and their plans to marry in 2001 were postponed when John was first diagnosed with cancer, but they finally married in 2003.

In 1999, Ann was the first MP to raise the issue of forced marriages in the House of Commons. Despite initial criticism, she has relentlessly pursued her campaign to improve the human rights of women. Ann was elected to represent Yorkshire MP's on the Council of Europe in 1997 and in 2002 she was appointed as Rapporteur regarding' Crimes of Honour'. Her report has been adopted by all 42 States of the Council of Europe, and, indeed, in Turkey has been used to assist in drafting new human rights legislation.

Ann served on the Lord Chancellor's Select Committee until the last election and is now on the influential Home Affairs Select Committee. She was elected by her Labour backbench colleagues to represent them on the Parliamentary Labour Party Committee that meets with the Prime Minister and members of the Cabinet on a weekly basis. She is also a member of various All Party Parliamentary groups, including Railways, Arts & Heritage, Gardening and Horticulture, Film Industry and is a joint Chair of the Breast Cancer Group.

Beyond the Westminster village, Ann is an Honorary Lay Canon and a member of the Council of Bradford Cathedral, President of the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Preservation Society, Patron of Keighley Bus Museum, and Friends of the Settle to Carlisle Railway. She is also a Justice of the Peace.

Ann has two children - John was MP for Hornchurch between 1997 and 2005 and is now the Parliamentary Liaison Officer for the Transport & General Workers Union and Jane is a lead solicitor with the CPS. Ann has 2 step children, Mark and Sue Hammersley, from her second marriage, 6 grandchildren and 2 step grandchildren.

Ann Cryer MP speaking at a Council of Europe meeting in April 2002


Ann Cryer MP and the speaker of the Palestine Parliament in East Jerusalem