Ian Bruce Lang, Baron Lang of Monkton, PC DL (born 27 June 1940) is a British Conservative Party politician and

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 ...

who served as the Member of Parliament for

Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...

, and then Galloway and Upper Nithsdale, from 1979 to 1997. On 29 September 1997 Lang was raised to the peerage. He was an active member of 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 ...

until his retirement on 30 June 2022, including being the Chairman of the Constitution Committee. He also served as Chair of the

Advisory Committee on Business Appointments Advisory may refer to: * Advisory board, a body that provides advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation * Boil-water advisory, a public health directive given by government to consumers when a community's drinking wate ...

from 2009 to 2014.

Early life

Lang was educated at Lathallan School, at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

from 1954 to 1958, and at

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...

, from 1959 to 1962, where he obtained a BA (Hons.) degree in history. He was also a member of the

Cambridge Footlights The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy so ...

Parliamentary career

Lang first stood for Parliament for Central Ayrshire in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, but was unsuccessful. In the February 1974 general election he was defeated by Labour's James White contesting Glasgow Pollok. Following this he became MP for

from

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale from 1983 to 1997, and was a minister for a number of years. He served as Assistant Government Whip from 1981 to 1983 and as Government Whip from 1983 to 1986, before becoming

Under-Secretary of State Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

for Employment in 1986. He then served as Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 1986 to 1987, before rising to the position of

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for Scotland, which he held from 1987 to 1990. Lang then joined the Cabinet as

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

from 1990 to 1995, before becoming the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and President of the Board of Trade from 1995 until 1997. He was closely involved in

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...

's re-election campaign as leader of the Conservative Party in July 1995. Lang lost his seat in the 1997 general election, one of seven Cabinet members to do so (the others being

Malcolm Rifkind Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind (born 21 June 1946) is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament from 2 ...

Michael Portillo Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo ( ; born 26 May 1953) is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. His broadcast series include railway documentaries such as ''Great British Railway Jou ...

, Michael Forsyth, Roger Freeman, William Waldegrave and Tony Newton).

House of Lords

Following the loss of his seat, Lang was raised to the peerage in the 1997 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours as Baron Lang of Monkton, ''of Merrick and the Rhinns of Kells in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

''. He has remained an active member of the

, including being Chairman of the Constitution Committee between 2014 and 2017. Previously Lang served as Chair of the

from 2009 to 2014. Since 1997, Lang has been a member of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of Marsh & McLennan Companies, becoming

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

in May 2011. Lang has also been a Non-Executive Director of Charlemagne Capital Limited since 2006, and Deputy Chairman of European Telecom PLC since 1997. On 30 January 2014 Lang stated that if Scotland voted for independence, it would dishonour the sacrifice of those who died fighting for Great Britain in the First World War.

Arms

References

External links

*
Lord Lang of Monkton
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Ian 1940 births Living people People educated at Lathallan School People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Secretaries of State for Scotland Lang of Monckton Life peers created by Elizabeth II Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Scottish Conservative MPs UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Presidents of the Board of Trade Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014