Gavin Steel Strang (born 10 July 1943) is a Scottish Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh East from 1970 until 2010 (including two terms for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh). [1] [2] He served as a minister in the 1974–79 Labour government under Prime Ministers Harold Wilson and James Callaghan,as well as in the Cabinet under Tony Blair. By the time of his retirement at the 2010 general election,he was the longest-serving Scottish MP.
A farmer's son,Strang grew up in Perthshire and attended the independent Morrison's Academy in Crieff. After gaining a BSc in Genetics from the University of Edinburgh in 1964,he gained a Diploma in Agricultural Science from Churchill College,Cambridge and a PhD in Agricultural Science from Edinburgh,presenting the thesis "The genetic aspects of litter productivity in British pigs". [3] From 1966 to 1968,he was a member of the Tayside Economic Planning Consultative Group and,from 1968 to 1970,was a scientist at the Agricultural and Food Research Council and Animal Breeding Research Organisation in Edinburgh.
Strang was first elected in the 1970 general election after Labour MP George Willis,who had represented Edinburgh East since a 1954 by-election,retired. Strang was a minister under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan,serving as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Energy in 1974 and then at the Ministry of Agriculture,Fisheries and Food until 1979. In 1990,he was the last person to ask Margaret Thatcher a question at Prime Minister's Questions,which he used to criticise her impact on communities and the poor during her time in office.
Following the 1997 general election,Strang was made Minister of State for Transport with a seat in the Cabinet. However,he was sacked in June 1998. After becoming a backbencher,he was sometimes critical of government policy. He campaigned against the privatisation of National Air Traffic Services,and on 31 October 2006,was one of twelve Labour MPs to back Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for an inquiry into the Iraq War. [4] From 1997 to the 2005 general election,his seat was named Edinburgh East and Musselburgh.
Strang was a member of the Tribune Group of MPs and the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy. [5] [6] He was Chairman of the All-Party Group for World Government [7] and served on the Environment,Food and Rural Affairs Committee. In November 2007,he announced he would stand down at the next general election, [8] but later reversed the decision. On 27 June 2008,Strang again changed his mind,and announced that he would indeed stand down at the next general election. [9]
Strang married Bettina in 1973. They have a son,and he has two step sons. His wife has been the chair of the arm of the advocacy organisation Europa Donna. [10] Bettina died in 2016.
John Smith was a Scottish politician who was Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his death in May 1994. He was also Member of Parliament (MP) for Monklands East.
Dame Margaret Mary Beckett is a British former politician who was Britain's first female Foreign Secretary and a minister under Prime Ministers Callaghan,Blair and Brown. Beckett was Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1992 to 1994,and briefly Leader of the Opposition and acting Leader of the Labour Party following John Smith's death in 1994. A member of the Labour Party,she served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Lincoln from 1974 to 1979 and for Derby South from 1983 to 2024. Her 45 years tenure makes her the longest-serving female MP in British history.
Alistair Maclean Darling,Baron Darling of Roulanish,was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under prime minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party,he was a member of Parliament (MP) from 1987 to 2015,representing Edinburgh Central and Edinburgh South West.
Nicholas Hugh Brown is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne East from 1983 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party until his resignation in 2023,he sat as an independent in Parliament until he stood down. He attended the Cabinet of the United Kingdom as Chief Whip from 1997 to 1998,and again from 2008 to 2010,and Agriculture Minister from 1998 to 2001.
Michael Hugh Meacher was a British politician who served as a government minister under Harold Wilson,James Callaghan and Tony Blair. A member of the Labour Party,he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Oldham West and Royton,previously Oldham West,from 1970 until his death in 2015.
The 1959 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday,8 October 1959. It marked a third consecutive victory for the ruling Conservative Party,now led by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. For the second time in a row,the Conservatives increased their overall majority in Parliament,this time to a landslide majority of 100 seats,having gained 20 seats for a return of 365. The Labour Party,led by Hugh Gaitskell,lost 19 seats and returned 258. The Liberal Party,led by Jo Grimond,again returned only six MPs to the House of Commons,but managed to increase its overall share of the vote to 5.9%,compared to just 2.7% four years earlier.
Mark Lazarowicz is a British Labour Co-operative politician and lawyer who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh North and Leith from 2001 to 2015.
Dame Eleanor Fulton Laing,is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Epping Forest from 1997 to 2024. She has served in the shadow cabinets of Michael Howard and David Cameron. From 2013 to 2024,Laing served as a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons;from 2020,as Chairman of Ways and Means,making her the senior Deputy Speaker,and the first woman to hold this post. She has one of the longest tenures in the Speaker's Chair.
Calum Alistair MacDonald is a Scottish former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Western Isles from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Labour Party,he was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 1997 to 1999.
Douglas Henderson was a Scottish politician. He was Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 1971 to 1973 and from 1979 to 1981. He served as a Scottish National Party Member of Parliament (MP) for East Aberdeenshire from 1974 to 1979,and held virtually every national office in the SNP,short of party leader. His political style has been described as "no-nonsense" and "very blunt and forthright". He was also known for his forceful public speaking,which former SNP leader Alex Salmond described as "messianic".
John David Home Robertson is a retired Labour politician in Scotland. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Berwick and East Lothian and East Lothian from 1978 to 2001 and a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for East Lothian from 1999 until 2007.
Richard Giles Douglas was a Scottish politician who was a Member of Parliament (MP) elected as a Labour Co-operative candidate,but who subsequently joined the Scottish National Party (SNP).
Cledwyn Hughes,Baron Cledwyn of Penrhos,was a Welsh Labour Party politician,usually associated with the moderate wing of the party. He was also regarded,particularly in later years,as a non-political figure of stature in Wales having held posts of importance in bodies such as the University of Wales.
Midlothian in Scotland is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system.
Katy Clark,is a British politician and life peer who has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West Scotland region since 2021. A member of the Labour Party,she was Member of Parliament (MP) for North Ayrshire and Arran from 2005 to 2015.
Patrick Bosco McFadden is a British Labour Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South East since 2005. He has been Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Labour National Campaign Coordinator since September 2023. He served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury between 2021 and 2023.
A vote of no confidence in the British Labour government,1974–1979,of James Callaghan occurred on 28 March 1979. The vote was brought by the Official Opposition leader Margaret Thatcher and was lost by the Labour government by one vote,which was announced at 10:19 pm. The result mandated a general election that was won by Thatcher's Conservative Party. The last time an election had been forced by the House of Commons was in 1924,when Ramsay MacDonald,the first Labour prime minister,lost a vote of confidence. Labour politician Roy Hattersley later remarked that the vote marked "the last rites" of Old Labour. Labour did not return to government for another 18 years,with New Labour ideology. The BBC has referred to the vote as "one of the most dramatic nights in Westminster history".
Sheila Gilmore is a British Labour Party politician,who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh East from 2010 to 2015. Gilmore stood for the seat following the decision of Gavin Strang to stand down;she is a former councillor at the City of Edinburgh Council.
Martin David Whitfield is a Scottish Labour politician and former lawyer and primary school teacher who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region and the Convener of the Standards and Procedures and Public Appointments Committee since 2021.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)