Gavin Strang - Parliamentary Career

Parliamentary Career

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. In 1990 he was the last person to ask Margaret Thatcher a question at PMQ's, which he used to criticise her impact on communities and the poor during her time in office. 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.

Strang was Chairman of the All-Party Group for World Government and on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. In November 2007 he announced he would stand down at the next general election, 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.