Bob Cryer

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

George Robert Cryer (3 December 1934 – 12 April 1994) was a Labour politician in the United Kingdom and founder of the Keighley and 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, 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 (apart from the Speaker, Bernard Weatherill) to speak in the Commons on TV. Cryer supported a number of left-wing causes and he was also a Eurosceptic.

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.

External links

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

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Joan Hall	Member of Parliament for Keighley February 1974–1983	Succeeded by Gary Waller
Preceded by Thomas Torney	Member of Parliament for Bradford South 1987–1994	Succeeded by Gerry Sutcliffe
European Parliament
Preceded by Richard Caborn	Member of the European Parliament for Sheffield 1984–1989	Succeeded by Roger Barton