Henry Stephen Wilson, Baron Wilson of Langside, PC, QC (21 March 1916 – 23 November 1997) was a Scottish lawyer, Labour politician and life peer.

Life and career

The son of Margaret Young and James Wilson, a solicitor, he was educated at the

High School of Glasgow The High School of Glasgow is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, co-educational day school, day school in Glasgow, Scotland. The original High School of Glasgow was founded as the Cathedral school, choir school of Glasgow Cathedra ...

and the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. He joined the Army in 1939 and served with the

Highland Light Infantry The Highland Light Infantry (HLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1881. It took part in the First World War, First and World War II, Second World Wars, until it was amalgamated with the Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1959 t ...

and

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Ar ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was called to the

Scottish Bar The Faculty of Advocates () is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a consti ...

in 1946, and served as an

Advocate Depute The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service () is the independent public prosecutor, prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by Charles III of the United Kingd ...

from 1948–51 and as

Sheriff-substitute In the Courts of Scotland, sheriff-substitute was the historical name for the judges who sit in the local sheriff courts under the direction of the sheriffs principal; from 1971 the sheriffs substitute were renamed simply as sheriff. When researc ...

at Greenock from 1955–56 and in Glasgow from 1956–65. He

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

in 1965. He was

Solicitor General for Scotland His Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland () is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Scottish Government on Scots Law. They are also responsible for the Crown Office and P ...

from 1965–67 and

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

from 1967–70. He was Director of the Scottish Courts Administration from 1971–74 and Sheriff Principal of Glasgow and Strathkelvin from 1975–77. He was aboard the cruise ship ''Lakonia'' when she caught fire and sank with the loss of 128 lives in 1963.

Politics

Wilson was the unsuccessful Labour candidate for

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

in 1950 and 1955 and for Edinburgh West in 1951. He was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

in 1967. On 3 March 1968 he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

with the title Baron Wilson of Langside, of Broughton in the County of the City of Edinburgh, taking the Labour whip. Although a faithful Labour supporter throughout the post-war years, Wilson was one of those who experienced dissatisfaction with the party's performance in government during the latter stages of the 1970s, as it failed to combat declining economic performance and trade union militancy. He was also a critic of its support for

Scottish devolution Scottish devolution is the process of the UK Parliament granting powers (excluding powers over reserved matters) to the devolved Scottish Parliament. Prior to the advent of devolution, some had argued for a Scottish Parliament within the United ...

, campaigning against the establishment of a Scottish Assembly both before and during the 1979 referendum on the matter. Thus, at the

1979 United Kingdom general election The 1979 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 3 May 1979 to elect List of MPs elected in the 1979 United Kingdom general election, 635 members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The election was hel ...

, ''

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'' reported him as one of several former Labour MPs and ministers who were instead backing

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

. Following the breakaway of a number of Labour MPs to form the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SDP) in 1981, Wilson joined the new party and remained a member until its merger with the Liberals in 1988, when he instead aligned himself with

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979, and later ...

's rump 'continuing' SDP. Upon that party's dissolution in 1990, he was a member of its successor party for a further two years, thereafter sitting in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as a

crossbencher A crossbencher is a minor party or independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. They take their name fr ...

until his death."Obituaries: Lord Wilson of Langside", ''The Times'', 1 December 1997, p. 25.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Henry Baron Wilson of Langside Wilson, Henry, Baron Wilson of Langside Wilson, Henry, Baron Wilson of Langside Solicitors general for Scotland Wilson of Langside, Henry Wilson Wilson of Langside, Henry Wilson Wilson of Langside, Henry Wilson Wilson of Langside, Henry Wilson Wilson of Langside, Henry Wilson Social Democratic Party (UK) life peers Social Democratic Party (UK, 1988–1990) peers Wilson of Langside, Henry Wilson Scottish King's Counsel 20th-century King's Counsel Wilson of Langside, Henry Wilson Scottish sheriffs Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 Highland Light Infantry soldiers Royal Armoured Corps soldiers Life peers created by Elizabeth II