9:00am Thursday 21st August 2008
By Anika Bourley
MP Ann Cryer, who led the campaign for a law on forced marriage will quit the Commons at the next election.
Long-serving Keighley MP Mrs Cryer, who won the seat in 1997 as one of Blair’s babes, told her Labour party colleagues last night she will not be contesting the seat again.
She will be 69 in December and said she had taken the hard decision following a series of small health problems.
She said: “I have made the decision but I will be there for a while yet and I will be keeping busy. I love my constituency and I will still be going at full whack to do the best for Keighley. I will be 70 the next time an election is called I expect, so it would mean I would be at least 74 when I finished serving my next term. If we had gone to the country when we thought last summer I would have done it.
“But it is like having two full time jobs and I need to slow down a bit as it will be more than I could cope with.”
It was a double celebration in 1997 for the Labour MP who won her seat, as her son, John Cryer, also was elected Labour MP for Hornchurch the same evening.
She said: “It was amazing winning because my first late husband, Bob, had previously held the seat and I went in there trying to do my best and with John also securing a 16 per cent turnaround it was simply fantastic.”
The well-respected MP has won praise from colleagues for her determination to stand up for the rights of women forced into marriage - ending in a law coming into force later this year which will give victims and third parties the right to seek an injunction to prevent a forced marriage.
She started campaigning against the “evil practice” in 1999 and was repeatedly warned she risked losing her seat because of her robust defence of women in her constituency. But she said she was never put off and the accusations of her being Islamaphobic and racist fuelled her desire to protect women.
“It was heartbreaking and very lonely at times and I did not always get support and was accused of all sorts of things but the safety of the girls and women was always more important than any criticism I was given. It was worth every fight as I persuaded the Prime Minister to introduce the civil offence.”
But despite the prospect of retiring at 70, Mrs Cryer said she would remain active in the community and hopes to be invited to do some voluntary work, as well as spending more time with her nine grandchildren.
She added: “I have so many happy memories of representing Keighley and will have many more before I stand down. Going to local events and meeting people is fantastic. I want to thank the Keighley Labour party and its members for putting their trust in me thirteen years ago when I thought my life had virtually ended. They not only revived me but magnificently stood by me through thick and thin, three hard-fought elections, not to mention the loss of my lovely husband John nearly four years ago. The hard work of myself and constituency office will continue as has been the case for the last eleven years.”
It will now be up to the Labour party to select a candidate to contest the seat.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid tribute to her service, particularly her work on the forced marriages issue The Labour Party has set up a forum for messages from 10am today at www.yorkshireandhumberlabour.org.uk/thanksann.
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