Ian Bruce Lang, Baron Lang of Monkton, PC DL (born 27 June 1940) is a British Conservative Party politician and

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

who served as the

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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, counci ...

, and then Galloway and Upper Nithsdale, from 1979 to 1997. On 29 September 1997 Lang was raised to the peerage. He was an active member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

until his retirement on 30 June 2022, including being the Chairman of the Constitution Committee. He also served as Chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments from 2009 to 2014.

Early life

Lang was educated at Lathallan School, at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

from 1954 to 1958, and at

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wif ...

from 1959 to 1962, where he obtained a BA (Hons.) degree in History. He was also a member of the Cambridge Footlights.

Parliamentary career

Lang first stood for Parliament for Central Ayrshire in 1970, but was unsuccessful. In the February 1974 general election he was defeated by Labour's James White contesting Glasgow Pollok. Following this he became MP for

from 1979 to 1983 and for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale from 1983 to 1997, and was a minister for a number of years. He served as Assistant Government Whip from 1981 to 1983 and as Government Whip from 1983 to 1986, before becoming Under-Secretary of State for Employment in 1986. He then served as Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 1986 to 1987, before rising to the position of

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

for Scotland, which he held from 1987 to 1990. Lang then joined the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for ...

from 1990 to 1995, before becoming the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and President of the Board of Trade from 1995 until 1997. He was closely involved in John Major's re-election campaign as leader of the Conservative Party in July 1995. Lang lost his seat in the 1997 general election, one of seven Cabinet members to do so (the others being Malcolm Rifkind, Michael Portillo, Michael Forsyth, Roger Freeman, William Waldegrave and Tony Newton).

House of Lords

Following the loss of his seat, Lang was raised to the peerage in the

1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours The 1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours were officially announced in two supplements to ''The London Gazette'' of 1 August 1997 (published 2 August 1997) and marked the May 1997 resignation of the Prime Minister, John Major. A notable omi ...

as Baron Lang of Monkton, ''of Merrick and the

Rhinns of Kells The Rhinns of Kells are a range of hills in the Galloway Hills range, part of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. The most easterly of three parallel ridges, they are neighboured to the west by the Range of the Awful Hand and the Dungeon Hills. T ...

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Ki ...

''. He has remained an active member of the

, including being Chairman of the Constitution Committee between 2014 and 2017. Previously Lang served as Chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments from 2009 to 2014. Since 1997, Lang has been a member of the board of directors of Marsh & McLennan Companies, becoming Chairman in May 2011. Lang has also been a Non-Executive Director of Charlemagne Capital Limited since 2006, and Deputy Chairman of European Telecom PLC since 1997. On 30 January 2014 Lang stated that if Scotland voted for independence, it would dishonour the sacrifice of those who died fighting for Great Britain in the First World War.

Arms

References

External links

*
Lord Lang of Monkton
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Ian 1940 births Living people People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies British Secretaries of State Secretaries of State for Scotland Lang of Monckton Life peers created by Elizabeth II Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Scottish Conservative Party MPs UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Presidents of the Board of Trade