John Cryer

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. 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.

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.