Gordon Lang (25 February 1893 – 20 June 1981) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

Congregationalist minister and Labour Party politician. He was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

from

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

until

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, and for Stalybridge and Hyde from

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

until

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

. He was related to his namesake,

Cosmo Gordon Lang William Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth, (31 October 1864 – 5 December 1945) was a Scottish Anglican prelate who served as Archbishop of York (1908–1928) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1928–1942). His elevation to Archbishop ...

, who was

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

at the time Gordon Lang was first elected to parliament. Lang was born in

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

, and attended the town's

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

and

Cheshunt College Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, Wal ...

. He combined his pastoral work with political activity including being the honorary secretary of the United Europe Movement and a leading member of the Proportional Representation Society.

MP for Oldham

he was nominated as one of two Labour candidates for the two-seat

constituency along with

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada *James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Quebe ...

. The general election saw a large swing to the Labour Party, and Lang and Wilson were elected, unseating the two sitting members (one

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

and one

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

.) Following the collapse of the second minority Labour Government and the formation of a National Government, a further

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

was held in 1931. Lang and Wilson defended their seats against two National Government candidates, but were heavily defeated. Lang stood at Oldham again at the next general election in 1935, but failed to regain the seat for Labour.

MP for Stalybridge and Hyde

In 1937, Philip Dunne, the Conservative MP for Stalybridge and Hyde retired due to ill health. Lang was chosen to contest the ensuing byelection, which was a straight fight with

Horace Trevor-Cox Horace Brimson Trevor-Cox (14 June 1908 – 30 October 2005) was a British farmer, landowner and politician who served from 1937 to 1945 as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), but left the Conservatives in the 1960s and subsequently joined t ...

, Conservative and National Government candidate. Lang came close to winning the seat, reducing the Conservatives' majority from the 1935 general election of 5,081 votes to just 334. With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1939, elections were postponed. It was not until 1945 that another

was held. Lang and Trevor-Cox were again the candidates of the Labour and Conservative parties respectively, joined by a

candidate, Donald Burden. The 1945 general election resulted in a Labour

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin. The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geol ...

, where the first majority Labour government was formed, and Lang was comfortably elected with a majority of 4,370 votes. He retained the seat at the next general election in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

. The result of the election was a reduced Labour majority, and another general election was called in

to increase it. Lang announced that he would not contest the election due to ill health, and retired from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

After politics

Lang continued in his ministry, and was appointed chaplain to the

Showmen's Guild of Great Britain The Showmen's Guild of Great Britain exists to protect the interests of Travelling Showmen in Great Britain. The Showmen's Guild was founded as the United Kingdom Van Dwellers Protection Association in 1889 in Salford. The formation of the guild ...

. He died at his home in

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western ...

in June 1981, aged 88.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Gordon 1893 births 1981 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham People from Chepstow People from Monmouth, Wales Welsh Congregationalist ministers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stalybridge and Hyde 20th-century Congregationalist ministers