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).
[13] 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.
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 skimming stone, and tied her arms down at a restaurant as a toddler for throwing a salt shaker, among various other incidents.