Gordon Lang (25 February 1893 – 20 June 1981) was a Welsh Congregationalist minister and Labour Party politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

from

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

until

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, and for

Stalybridge and Hyde Stalybridge and Hyde is a constituency in Greater Manchester that was created in 1918. The seat has been represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by Jonathan Reynolds of the Labour and Co-operative Party since ...

from

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

until

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

. He was related to his namesake,

Cosmo Gordon Lang William Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth, (31 October 1864 – 5 December 1945) was a Scottish Anglican prelate who served as Archbishop of York (1908–1928) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1928–1942). His elevation to Archbishop ...

, who was

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

at the time Gordon Lang was first elected to parliament. Lang was born in

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

, and attended the town's

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

and

Cheshunt College Cheshunt (/ˈtʃɛzənt/ CHEZ-ənt) is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, situated within the London commuter belt approximately north of Central London. The town lies on the River Lea and Lee Navigation, bordering th ...

. He combined his pastoral work with political activity including being the honorary secretary of the United Europe Movement and a leading member of the Proportional Representation Society.

MP for Oldham

he was nominated as one of two Labour candidates for the two-seat

constituency along with

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada * James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Queb ...

. The general election saw a large swing to the Labour Party, and Lang and Wilson were elected, unseating the two sitting members (one

Conservative 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 civiliza ...

and one

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

.) Following the collapse of the second minority Labour Government and the formation of a National Government, a further

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

was held in 1931. Lang and Wilson defended their seats against two National Government candidates, but were heavily defeated. Lang stood at Oldham again at the next general election in 1935, but failed to regain the seat for Labour.

MP for Stalybridge and Hyde

In 1937, Philip Dunne, the Conservative MP for

retired due to ill health. Lang was chosen to contest the ensuing byelection, which was a straight fight with

Horace Trevor-Cox Horace Brimson Trevor-Cox (14 June 1908 – 30 October 2005) was a British farmer, landowner and politician who served from 1937 to 1945 as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), but left the Conservatives in the 1960s and subsequently joined ...

, Conservative and National Government candidate. Lang came close to winning the seat, reducing the Conservatives' majority from the 1935 general election of 5,081 votes to just 334. With the outbreak of the

Second World War 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 ...

in 1939, elections were postponed. It was not until 1945 that another

was held. Lang and Trevor-Cox were again the candidates of the Labour and Conservative parties respectively, joined by a

candidate, Donald Burden. The 1945 general election resulted in a Labour

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning Candidate#Candidates in elections, candidate or political party, party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyo ...

, where the first majority Labour government was formed, and Lang was comfortably elected with a majority of 4,370 votes. He retained the seat at the next general election in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

. The result of the election was a reduced Labour majority, and another general election was called in

to increase it. Lang announced that he would not contest the election due to ill health, and retired from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

After politics

Lang continued in his ministry, and was appointed chaplain to the

Showmen's Guild of Great Britain The Showmen's Guild of Great Britain exists to protect the interests of Travelling Showmen in Great Britain. The Showmen's Guild was founded as the United Kingdom Van Dwellers Protection Association in 1889 in Salford. The formation of the guild ...

. He died at his home in

Chepstow Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the ...

in June 1981, aged 88.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Gordon 1893 births 1981 deaths Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham People from Chepstow People from Monmouth, Wales Welsh Congregationalist ministers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stalybridge and Hyde 20th-century Congregationalist ministers