Ann Cryer.

Ann, born in Lancashire, left school at 15 and started work with ICI and then the Post Office. At 18, Ann joined the Labour Party and was elected as the Labour Councillor for Darwen at 22. At the time she was the youngest Councillor in the country.

After marrying Bob Cryer, Ann moved to Keighley and lived in Oakworth for 23 years bringing up their two children, John and Jane. From 1974 until his death in 1994 (as well as being a First School Governor and a member of the Social Security Appeal Tribunal for 9 years), Ann worked as a part-time assistant to Bob Cryer MP, first in Keighley and then in Bradford South, gaining valuable experience that was to put her in good stead for the future.

On 1st May 1997, Ann was elected as Member of Parliament for Keighley. Her son, John, was also elected as Member for Hornchurch - making history as the first mother and son MPs sitting at the same time. Ann (and John) was re-elected in June, 2001.

A member of the Parliamentary Labour Party departmental committees on Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs and International Development, Ann is also Chair of the PLP CND, a member of the Select Committee on the Lord Chancellor's Department and a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Film Industry Group, the Arts and Heritage Group, the Domestic Violence Group and the Railway Group.

As one of the two delegates from Yorkshire and the Humber to the Council of Europe, Ann is a member of the Culture and the Equal Opportunities Committees. Indeed, in 2002, Ann was appointed as Rapporteur on the question of "Crimes of Honour". Her report was adopted by the Council in April 2003.

This is the latest addition to Ann's long campaign for the rights of women which was launched in February 1999 when she was the first MP to raise the issue of forced marriages in an adjournment debate in the House of Commons.

In addition to her Parliamentary commitments, Ann's constituency office is open to see constituents every week and she has regular surgeries throughout the constituency.

As President of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and a Patron of the Keighley Bus Museum, Ann takes a keen interest in transport issues. Other Parliamentary interests include immigration, benefits and Palestine.

Away from Parliament, Ann likes to spend time with her six grandchildren, visiting the theatre and cinema and gardening.

To contact Ann Cryer:
Email: Mark Taylor  or Catherine Rowen
Post:: Bob Cryer House, 35 Devonshire Street, Keighley BD21 2BZ
Fax: 01535 210085

Visit Ann Cryer's website at http://www.epolitix.com/webminster/Ann-Cryer 

Contact the Labour Party National Website at: http://www.labour.org.uk