Background
Her father, Allen Place, was an activist in the Independent Labour Party, as was his mother, Dinah Place, a suffragette.
Her father, Allen Place, was an activist in the Independent Labour Party, as was his mother, Dinah Place, a suffragette.
She was educated at Street John"s Primary School in Darwen and Spring Bank Secondary Modern School in the same town, before attending the Bolton Institute of Technology.
Born Constance Place in Lytham Street Annes, Lancashire, she comes from a political family. She began her career as a clerk for Imperial Chemical Industries in 1955, moving to the General Post Office as a telephonist 1960 to 1964. Cryer married Bob Cryer in 1963.
She was in the car with him at the time.
Cryer joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament when she was 18 and in 1961 became the youngest serving councillor in the country. She was elected to the House of Commons at the 1997 general election, defeating the sitting Conservative Member of Parliament Gary Waller by 7,132 votes.
She made her maiden speech on 16 May 1997. Cryer was re-elected in the 2001 and 2005 general elections.
Cryer voted with the government to increase detention without trial to 42 days for terror suspects.
She favours nuclear disarmament. Cryer has attracted media attention for speaking out against forced marriages, honour killings and calling on immigrants to learn to speak English before entering the country. After the controversy regarding grooming young white girls by Asian men (see Rochdale sex trafficking gang), Nick Griffin, the chairman of the far-right British National Party, stood against her in Keighley in the 2005 general election, coming fourth.
On 21 August 2008, Cryer announced she would not contest the next general election, due to her health, energy levels and age.
In May 2012, Cryer unsuccessfully stood as a councillor in the Ilkley ward of Bradford Council.
She voted against the government on many occasions and was a member of the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group during her time in parliament.
52nd United Kingdom Parliament. 53rd United Kingdom Parliament. 54th United Kingdom Parliament]
After the 2005 general election, she was a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee.