John Cryer

For the American actor, see Jon Cryer.
John Cryer
MP
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 14,919 (36.7%)[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
(1964-04-11) 11 April 1964
Darwen, Lancashire, England
Political party Labour
Spouse(s) Ellie Reeves
Alma mater University of Hertfordshire
University of the Arts London
Website Official website

John Robert Cryer (born 11 April 1964) is an English 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

He 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.

As Member of Parliament for Hornchurch, he 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.

He was involved in local campaigns, for example 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.

He 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.[4]

On 9 February 2015, he was elected, unopposed, to succeed Dave Watts as the Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party.[5]

On 8 May 2015, he was re-elected as MP for the Leyton and Wanstead constituency with 58.6% of the vote.[1]

Personal life

He is the son of Ann Cryer and Bob Cryer, both former Labour MPs.[6] As a child he appeared as an extra in the film The Railway Children (1970). His wife is Ellie Reeves, a 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.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Leyton and Wanstead". Election 2015. BBC. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "Election 2010: Leyton and Wanstead". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  3. ↑ Times Guide to the House of Commons, 1997
  4. ↑ Eaton, George (26 January 2015). "The Labour left demand a change of direction – why their intervention matters". New Statesman. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "John Cryer Is The New Chair Of The PLP". LabourList. 9 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "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.
  7. ↑ Jonny Greatrex "MP Tom Watson finds new love after break up of marriage", Birmingham Mail, 26 August 2012
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Robin Squire		 Member of Parliament
for Hornchurch
1997–2005 		Succeeded by
James Brokenshire
Preceded by
Harry Cohen		 Member of Parliament
for Leyton and Wanstead
2010–present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
David Watts		 Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party
2015–present 		Incumbent
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