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James Douglas Cran (28 January 1944 – 1 June 2023) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beverley (1987–1997) and for Beverley and Holderness (1997–2005).
Cran was a researcher in the Conservative Research Department during 1970–71 and was a member of then-Leader of the Opposition Ted Heath's briefing team during the 1970 general election. From 1971 to 1979, Cran was the Secretary and Chief Executive of the National Association of Pension Funds.Who's Who in Finance 1975-76 - Register of Professional Bodies and Financial Associations, Gower Press, NAPF Yearbook 1979, He was the Northern Director for the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) from 1979 to 1984One Thing After Another, Stan Crowther MP, 2005, and was the CBI's West Midlands Director from 1984 to 1987.Yearbook and Who's Who, 1985, Coventry Evening Telegraph, The Birmingham Post Yearbook and Who's Who, 1984-85 From 1974 to 1979, he was a councillor in the London Borough of Sutton, and served as Chairman of the Health and Housing Committee.Committee Chairman, Wallington and Carshalton Times, 30 April 1976
Cran was a member of the '92 Group of right-wing Conservative MPs and took an active part in the leadership contests involving John Major (June 1995), Michael Howard (1997) and the latter stages of William Hague's campaign (1997).Michael Portillo - The Future of the Right, Michael Gove, 1995, Guilty Men - Conservative Decline and Fall 1992-97, Hywel Williams, 1998, Cran was a consistent opponent of the Maastricht Treaty, and of the Euro and closer European integration.Cracking the Whip, Christopher Gill, 2012,
Cran was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Patrick Mayhew from 1995 to 1996.Mayhew Picks Cran as Aide, The Financial Times, 4 May 1995 He was present with the Secretary of State in Washington DC at the first meeting with Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin. Cran was also Pairing Whip and then Assistant Chief Whip (1997–2001).Parliament in the 21st Century, Edited by Nicholas D J Baldwin, He was appointed Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons by then-Leader of the Opposition Iain Duncan Smith but resigned shortly thereafter to pursue other activities.Two Tories Quit Tory Team, The Times, 18 October 2001The Spicer Diaries, Michael Spicer, 2012, page 466, He was a member of a number of Select Committees: Trade and Industry (1987–92); Administration (1997–98); Selection (1998–2001); and Defence (2001–05). He was also a member of the Chairman of Ways and Means Panel (2001–05) and a member of the Council of Europe and the WEU (2001–02).Annuaire de l'Assemblee, Avril 2002, Strasbourg
Other Parliamentary activities included:
Following his death, James Cran's daughter, Dr Alexandra Walker, alleged sustained emotional (and occasionally physical) abuse at his hands, beginning in her childhood and carrying on up until she broke off contact with him shortly before he died. Dr Walker described Cran as "terrifying", a "Jekyll and Hyde character" prone to mood swings and sudden fits of rage exacerbated by alcohol. She recounted that he once locked her in a car for "what felt like hours" for accidentally hitting him with a Stone skipping, and tied her arms down at a restaurant as a toddler for throwing a salt shaker, among various other incidents. Walker also felt that Cran consistently belittled her as an adult, and emotionally blackmailed her in the aftermath of her mother's death.
Some personal artefacts associated with Cran were listed for sale by auction on 13 February 2025 by Eastbourne Auctions.
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