Gavin Steel Strang (born 10 July 1943) is a

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...

politician who served as

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

Edinburgh East Edinburgh East is a burgh 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 system of election. In present form, the constituency was first used at t ...

from

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

until

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

(including two terms for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh). He served as a minister in the 1974–79 Labour government under Prime Ministers

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

and

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

, as well as in the Cabinet under

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

. By the time of his retirement at the 2010 general election, he was the longest-serving Scottish MP.

Early life

A farmer's son, Strang grew up in

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

and attended the independent

Morrison's Academy Morrison's Academy is a co-educational independent day school in Crieff, Perth and Kinross, in Central Scotland. The school provides nursery, primary and secondary school facilities. It draws many pupils from surrounding Perth and Kinross ...

Crieff Crieff (; gd, Craoibh, meaning "tree") is a Scottish market town in Perth and Kinross on the A85 road between Perth and Crianlarich, and the A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy. The A822 joins the A823 to Dunfermline. Crieff has become ...

. After gaining a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Genetics from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

in 1964, he gained a Diploma in Agricultural Science from

Churchill College, Cambridge Churchill College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but still retains a strong interest in the arts and humanities. In 1958, a trust was establish ...

and a PhD in Agricultural Science from Edinburgh, presenting the thesis ''"The genetic aspects of litter productivity in British pigs"''. 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 The Agricultural and Food Research Council (AFRC) was a British Research Council responsible for funding and managing scientific and technological developments in farming and horticulture. History The AFRC was formed in 1983 from its predecessor, ...

and Animal Breeding Research Organisation in Edinburgh.

Parliamentary career

Strang was first elected in the 1970 general election after Labour MP George Willis, who had represented

since a 1954 by-election, retired. Strang was a minister under

and

, serving as

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

at the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...

in 1974 and then at the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

until 1979. In 1990, he was the last person to ask

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

a question at

Prime Minister's Questions Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every W ...

, 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 The Minister of State for Transport is a mid-level ministerial position in the Department for Transport of the Government of the United Kingdom who deputises for the Secretary of State for Transport. There is also a list of Parliamentary Under-S ...

with a seat in 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 ...

. 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 NATS Holdings, formerly National Air Traffic Services and commonly referred to as NATS, is the main air navigation service provider in the United Kingdom. It inherited the traditions of UK air traffic control, which (founded over Croydon Airp ...

, and on 31 October 2006, was one of twelve Labour MPs to back

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

and the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

's call for an inquiry into the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. 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. He was Chairman of the All-Party Group for World Government and served on the

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the Committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department fo ...

. In November 2007, he announced he would stand down at the next

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 ( ...

, 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.

Personal life

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. Bettina died in 2016.

References

External links

Gavin Strang MP
official site

* ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/gavin_strang/edinburgh_east TheyWorkForYou.com – Gavin Strang MP
BBC Politics
* *http://www.genetics.med.ed.ac.uk , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Strang, Gavin 1943 births Living people Alumni of Churchill College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh People educated at Morrison's Academy Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies People from Crieff Transport and General Workers' Union-sponsored MPs UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010