Gordon Lang | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament forOldham | |
| In office 1929–1931 Serving with James Wilson | |
| Preceded by | William Wiggins Duff Cooper |
| Succeeded by | Anthony Crommelin Crossley Hamilton Kerr |
| Member of Parliament forStalybridge and Hyde | |
| In office 1945–1951 | |
| Preceded by | Horace Trevor-Cox |
| Succeeded by | Fred Blackburn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1893-02-25)25 February 1893 Monmouth,Wales |
| Died | 20 June 1981(1981-06-20) (aged 88) Chepstow |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | Cheshunt College |
| Profession | Minister of religion |
Gordon Lang (25 February 1893 – 20 June 1981) was a WelshCongregationalistminister andLabour Party politician.[1][2] He wasMember of Parliament (MP) forOldham from1929 until1931, and forStalybridge and Hyde from1945 until1951. He was related to his namesake,Cosmo Gordon Lang, who wasArchbishop of Canterbury at the time Gordon Lang was first elected to parliament.[3]
Lang was born inMonmouth, and attended the town'sgrammar school andCheshunt College. He combined his pastoral work with political activity including being the honorary secretary of the United Europe Movement and a leading member of theProportional Representation Society.
In1929 he was nominated as one of two Labour candidates for the two-seatOldham constituency along withJames Wilson.[1][4] The general election saw a large swing to the Labour Party, and Lang and Wilson were elected, unseating the two sitting members (oneConservative and oneLiberal.)[5]
Following the collapse of thesecond minority Labour Government and the formation of aNational Government, a furthergeneral election was held in 1931.[6] Lang and Wilson defended their seats against two National Government candidates, but were heavily defeated.[7] Lang stood at Oldham again at the nextgeneral election in 1935, but failed to regain the seat for Labour.[8]
In 1937,Philip Dunne, the Conservative MP forStalybridge and Hyde retired due to ill health. Lang was chosen to contest theensuing byelection, which was a straight fight withHorace Trevor-Cox, Conservative and National Government candidate.[9] Lang came close to winning the seat, reducing the Conservatives' majority from the 1935 general election of 5,081 votes to just 334.[10]
With the outbreak of theSecond World War in 1939,elections were postponed. It was not until 1945 that anothergeneral election was held. Lang and Trevor-Cox were again the candidates of the Labour and Conservative parties respectively, joined by aLiberal candidate, Donald Burden.[11] The 1945 general election resulted in a Labourlandslide victory, where the first majority Labour government was formed, and Lang was comfortably elected with a majority of 4,370 votes.[12] He retained the seat at the next general election in1950.[13] The result of the election was a reduced Labour majority, and another general election was called in1951 to increase it. Lang announced that he would not contest the election due to ill health, and retired from theHouse of Commons.[14]
Lang continued in his ministry, and was appointed chaplain to theShowmen's Guild of Great Britain.[2] He died at his home inChepstow in June 1981, aged 88.[2][15]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forOldham 1929–1931 With:James Wilson | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forStalybridge and Hyde 1945–1951 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
