FORMER Keighley MP Ann Cryer is to stand for election in Ilkley in this spring’s district council elections.

Labour Party members in Ilkley have invited the veteran politician to campaign for the Bradford Council seat.

Mrs Cryer, 75, represented the Keighley constituency, which includes Ilkley, in the House of Commons from 1997 to 2010.

She remains actively involved in politics, and in 2012 she unsuccessfully campaigned for the Ilkley ward in the Bradford Council elections.

Mrs Cryer this week said she had been very happy to accept the latest invitation from Ilkley Labour members.

She admitted that the Ilkley ward was never an easy one to contest for the party, since the town is traditionally a Conservative stronghold.

But she said she had gained a “staggering” amount of support in Ilkley during her days as Keighley’s MP, mostly due to her work for Ilkley residents from all walks of life.

She said: “I was a cracking-good constituency MP and I know people in Ilkley remember that. They knew I didn’t regard them as the outback. I had regular advice surgeries there.

“I have an ambition to remain in mainstream politics so this invitation gives me the opportunity. People in Ilkley will realise I haven’t taken my bat home.”

Mrs Cryer said she was also looking forward to fighting the latest election campaign alongside John Grogan, who will be contesting the Keighley Parliamentary seat for Labour. Mrs Cryer and Mr Grogan have previously served as MPs at the same time.

Mrs Cryer agreed to stand in the May 7 elections despite undergoing a period of turmoil in her personal life.

In recent weeks there has been the birth of Mrs Cryer’s 10th grandchild, and the death of her teacher nephew, who she was close to.