Education
Ryman was educated at Leighton Park School, Reading, and Pembroke College, Oxford.
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John Ryman
Edit ProfileCareer
Ryman was a barrister and a fox-hunter. He was elected Member of Parliament for Blyth in the October 1974 general election, ousting the incumbent Eddie Milne (who had been re-elected as an Independent Labour Member of Parliament at the February 1974 election after being deselected as the official Labour candidate). In 1976 Ryman"s agent Peter Mortakis was fined £400 in under the Representation of the People Acting 1949 and the Perjury Acting 1911 for falsifying his election expenses return and overspending, although the election result stood.
In a close Parliament, Ryman"s frequent absences from Parliament (either to continue his legal work or for other reasons) tried the patience of the whips.
On one celebrated occasion the Chief Whip Bob Mellish went on the radio to ask listeners to get in touch if they had spotted him. When the German Social Democrat Helmut Schmidt urged the Labour Party to support British membership of the European Economic Community, Ryman responded with "Why should this patronising Hun lecture the British Labour Party?"
Ryman held off a strong challenge from Milne in the 1979 general election, holding his seat with a majority of over 7,000.
The constituency was renamed Blyth Valley for the 1983 general election, when the newly formed Social Democratic Party (Social Democratic Party) cut his majority to 3,243. In 1986, he announced that he was leaving the Labour Party and sat as an independent until he retired at the 1987 general election.
His successor was Ronnie Campbell.
On 23 April 1992 Ryman was convicted of defrauding two women of their life savings. Ryman was given a two-and-a-half-year jail sentence.
Membership
47th United Kingdom Parliament. 48th United Kingdom Parliament. 49th United Kingdom Parliament.
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Born
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Died
2009 (aged 78) -
Nationality
United Kingdom -
Political Party
Labour Party