The Right Honourable  Gavin Strang  MP
Minister of State for Transport
In office 2 May 1997 – 18 June 1998
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	John Reid
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East
Incumbent
Assumed office  6 May 2005
Preceded by	Constituency established
Majority	6,202 (15.6%)
In office 18 June 1970 – 1 May 1997
Preceded by	George Willis
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Majority	4,531 (12.8%)
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh
In office 2 May 1997 – 5 May 2005
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Born	10 July 1943 (1943-07-10) (age 66) Crieff, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh Churchill College, Cambridge

Gavin Steel Strang (born 10 July 1943) is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East since 2005. He has been Scotland's longest-serving MP since 2005 (when Tam Dalyell stepped down).

[edit] Early life

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.

[edit] Parliamentary career

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.

Since becoming a backbencher, he has been active against the government, campaigning against the privatisation of National Air Traffic Services. On 31 October 2006, Strang 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]

He is Chairman of the All-Party Group for World Government^[3] and on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. He had announced he will stand down at the next general election^[4], but later reversed the decision. On 27 June 2008, Strang reversed course yet again and announced that he will, indeed stand down at the next general election.^[5]

[edit] Personal life

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]

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Gavin Strang MP official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Gavin Strang MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Gavin Strang MP
• BBC Politics