John Cryer
John Cryer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party | |
| Assumed office 9 February 2015 | |
| Leader | Ed Miliband Jeremy Corbyn |
| Preceded by | David Watts |
| Member of Parliament for Leyton and Wanstead | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Harry Cohen |
| Majority | 22,607 (49%)[1] |
| Member of Parliament for Hornchurch | |
| In office 1 May 1997 – 5 May 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Robin Squire |
| Succeeded by | James Brokenshire |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Robert Cryer 11 April 1964 Darwen, Lancashire, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Second wife: |
| Alma mater | University of Hertfordshire University of the Arts London |
| Website | Official website |
John Robert Cryer MP (born 11 April 1964) is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leyton and Wanstead since the general election in May 2010.[2] He was previously MP for Hornchurch from 1997 until his defeat at the 2005 general election. He is the Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
Education
A journalist by profession, Cryer was educated at Oakbank School, Keighley, Hatfield Polytechnic and the London College of Printing.[3]
Political career
Cryer is on the left-wing of the Labour Party and is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group. He has worked for Tribune and the Morning Star for ASLEF and the Transport and General Workers Union (now Unite). He is a Eurosceptic, and voted for the UK to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum.[4]
As Member of Parliament for Hornchurch, Cryer had a record as a rebel. He voted against tuition fees and top-up fees for higher education, against cuts in lone parent benefits (the first major rebellion under the Blair government) and against the Iraq War.[citation needed]
He was also involved in local campaigns to save a local primary school, to prevent the loss of a popular GP surgery in Rainham and against proposals to cut the number of beds at Oldchurch Hospital.[citation needed] He lost this marginal seat in 2005, before being selected to succeed Harry Cohen in Leyton and Wanstead, a safe Labour seat; he comfortably retained it for the party at the 2010 general election.
Cryer was one of 16 signatories of an open letter to Ed Miliband in January 2015 calling on the party to commit to oppose further austerity, take rail franchises back into public ownership and strengthen collective bargaining arrangements.[5]
On 9 February 2015, he was elected, unopposed, to succeed Dave Watts as the Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party.[6]
On 8 May 2015, Cryer was re-elected as MP for the Leyton and Wanstead constituency with 58.6% of the vote. On 8 June 2017, he was re-elected as MP for the Leyton and Wanstead constituency with 69.8% of the vote.[1]
In July 2019, following the BBC Panorama programme "Is Labour Antisemitic?", Cryer condemned his party's attack on former staff whistleblowers who had appeared in the programme as "a gross misjudgment".[7]
Personal life
He is the son of Ann Cryer and Bob Cryer, both former Labour MPs.[8] As a child he appeared as an extra in the film The Railway Children (1970). His second wife is Ellie Reeves, a Labour MP for Lewisham West and Penge and Labour NEC member from 2006-2016 and a trade union lawyer, who is the sister of Rachel Reeves, the former Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary.[9]
References
- ^ a b "Leyton and Wanstead". Election 2015. BBC. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
- ^ "Election 2010: Leyton and Wanstead". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1997
- ^ "EU REFERENDUM - JOHN CRYER MP". www.johncryermp.co.uk.
- ^ Eaton, George (26 January 2015). "The Labour left demand a change of direction – why their intervention matters". New Statesman. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ^ "John Cryer Is The New Chair Of The PLP". LabourList. 9 February 2015.
- ^ Rowena Mason and Jessica Elgot, "Corbyn under fire from staff and Labour peers over antisemitism", The Guardian, 15 July 2019, accessed 21 July 2019)
- ^ "MP For The Keighley Constituency Ann Cryer". Ilkley.org – Wharfedale's Community on the Web. Wharfedale Online Trust. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Jonny Greatrex "MP Tom Watson finds new love after break up of marriage", Birmingham Mail, 26 August 2012