The Right Honourable Gavin Strang |
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Minister of State for Transport | |
In office 2 May 1997 – 18 June 1998 |
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Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | John Reid |
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East |
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In office 18 June 1970 – 6 May 2010 |
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Preceded by | George Willis |
Succeeded by | Sheila Gilmore |
Personal details | |
Born | 10 July 1943 Crieff, United Kingdom |
Political party | Labour |
Alma mater | University of Edinburgh Churchill College, Cambridge |
Gavin Steel Strang (born 10 July 1943) is a British politician who served in the House of Commons for forty years (1970–2010), representing Edinburgh East in the Labour interest. He served as a minister in the 1974-1979 government under Prime Ministers Harold Wilson and James Callaghan as well as in the Cabinet under Tony Blair. By the time of his retirement he was the longest-serving incumbent Scottish MP.
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He was a farmer's son and grew up in Perthshire. He went to Morrison's Academy in Crieff. At the University of Edinburgh, he gained a BSc in Genetics[1] in 1964. At Churchill College, Cambridge, he gained a Diploma in Agricultural Science (DipAgriSci). From the University of Edinburgh he gained a PhD in Agricultural Science. from 1966-68. He was a member of the Tayside Economic Planning Consultative Group. He was a scientist at the Agricultural and Food Research Council and Animal Breeding Research Organisation in Edinburgh from 1968-70.
In 1970, Labour MP George Willis, who had represented Edinburgh East since 1954, retired. Strang won Labour's endorsement and was elected to Parliament. Although Edinburgh was a Conservative stronghold in the 1970s and 1980s, Strang's seat was a Labour safe seat. He was first elected in 1970, and was re-elected in February 1974, October 1974, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2001, 2005. From 1997 to 2005 his seat was named Edinburgh East & Musselburgh
Strang was a minister under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, serving as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy in 1974 and then at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food until 1979. He was Minister for Transport from 1997, with a seat in the Cabinet, but was sacked in 1998.
After becoming a backbencher Strang was sometimes critical of government policy. He campaigned against the privatisation of National Air Traffic Services, and on 31 October 2006, was one of 12 Labour MPs to back Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for an inquiry into the Iraq War.[2]
Strang was Chairman of the All-Party Group for World Government[3] and on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. In November 2007 he announced he would stand down at the next general election,[4] 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.[5]
He married Bettina in 1973. They have a son and two step sons. His wife has been the Chair of the UK arm of the Europa Donna medical organisation.[6]
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by George Willis |
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East 1970–1997 |
Constituency abolished |
New constituency | Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh 1997–2005 |
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Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East 2005–2010 |
Succeeded by Sheila Gilmore |
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Political offices | ||
New creation | Minister of State for Transport 1997–1998 |
Succeeded by John Reid |