Bob Cryer

For the character of the same name in "The Bill", see Bob Cryer (The Bill).

Bob Cryer
Member of Parliament for Bradford South
In office 11 June 1987 – 12 April 1994
Preceded by	Thomas Torney
Succeeded by	Gerry Sutcliffe
Member of Parliament for Keighley
In office 28 February 1974 – 13 May 1983
Preceded by	Joan Hall
Succeeded by	Gary Waller
Member of the European Parliament for Sheffield
In office 14 June 1984 – 15 June 1989
Preceded by	Richard Caborn
Succeeded by	Roger Barton
Personal details
Born	George Robert Cryer (1934-12-03)3 December 1934 Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	12 April 1994(1994-04-12) (aged 59) Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Ann Place ​ (m. 1963)​
Children	John Cryer
Education	University of Hull

George Robert Cryer (3 December 1934 – 12 April 1994) was an English Labour Party politician from Yorkshire. He sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Keighley from 1974 until his defeat in 1983. He then served as the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Sheffield from 1984 to 1989, and returned to the Commons as MP for Bradford South from 1987 until his death in 1994.

He was one of the founders of the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.

Early life

Born in Bradford, Cryer was educated at Salt High School, Shipley, and the University of Hull. He worked as a teacher and lecturer.

After British Railways closed the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway line in 1962, Cryer was one of a group of people who formed the KWVR Preservation Society, which bought the line and reopened it. As the society's first chairman, he helped to facilitate the shooting of the film The Railway Children on the line in the summer of 1970 and had a small part in it, as a guard.

Political career

Cryer first stood for Parliament at Darwen in 1964, but was defeated by the incumbent Conservative MP, Charles Fletcher-Cooke.

He was elected the Labour Member of Parliament for Keighley from 1974 to 1983 and represented Bradford South from 1987 until his death in a road traffic accident on 12 April 1994 when he was 59. He was the MEP for Sheffield from 1984 until 1989.

At the start of the Queen's Speech debate on 21 November 1989 – the first time the House of Commons was televised – Cryer raised a point of order on the subject of access to the House, thereby denying the Conservative MP Ian Gow, who was to move the Loyal Address to the Speech from the Throne, the accolade of being the first MP (other than the Speaker, Bernard Weatherill) to speak in the Commons on television.

Death

Cryer died in a car accident on 12 April 1994 when the Rover he was driving to London overturned on the M1 motorway near Junction 5 at Watford. His wife Ann survived the crash.

Family

His wife Ann Cryer was MP for Keighley between 1997 and 2010, and their son John Cryer is the MP for Leyton and Wanstead.

Filmography

• The Railway Children (1970) - Train Guard (uncredited)

External links

• Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
• Obituary in The Independent
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Bob Cryer