Norman Findlay Buchan was a Labour

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 politician, who represented the West Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire West (UK Parliament constituency)

West Renfrewshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983 and again from 1997 until 2005...

 seat from 1964

United Kingdom general election, 1964

The United Kingdom general election of 1964 was held on 15 October 1964, more than five years after the preceding election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party had retaken power...

 until 1983 and the Paisley South

Paisley (UK Parliament constituency)

Paisley was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 until 1983, when it was divided into Paisley North and Paisley South...

 seat from 1983

United Kingdom general election, 1983

The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...

 to 1990.

A schoolteacher based in Rutherglen, he was interested in the arts, compiling a book entitled 101 Scottish Songs (Glasgow; London: Collins, 1962) before becoming a full time politician in 1964, taking the West Renfrewshire seat from the Conservatives

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

. Whilst a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

, he served as Joint Under Secretary of State for Scotland whilst in the 1966-70 Labour government and as Minister of State for Agriculture in the 1974 Labour gvoernment. He later became Shadow Minister for the Arts in opposition.

He died in 1990 whilst a sitting MP (coincidentally, the neighbouring MP for Paisley North, Allen Adams

Allen Adams

Allender Steele Adams, known as Allen Adams, , was a British Labour politician.Adams was born in Glasgow. He married Irene on 24 February 1968....

 also died that year, resulting in by-elections being held in the same month for the two seats). He was succeeded as MP for Paisley South by Gordon McMaster

Gordon McMaster

Gordon James McMaster was a Scottish politician.Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, he was elected as Labour Member of Parliament for Paisley South at a by-election in 1990, following the death of Norman Buchan, and retained the seat until his own death in 1997...

.

He was married for 44 years (1946–1990) to Janey Buchan

Janey Buchan

Janey O'Neil Buchan , was a Scottish Labour Member of the European Parliament for the Glasgow constituency from 1979 to 1994 when she retired from the post aged 67....

, Labour Member of the European Parliament

Member of the European Parliament

A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

 for Glasgow from 1979 until 1994.

His only son, Alasdair Buchan, has been a journalist since 1968. He launched the magazine Equality & Diversity Professional in 2008.

Norman Buchan opposed an early day motion

Early day motion

An Early Day Motion , in the Westminster system, is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by Members of Parliament for debate "on an early day" . Controversial EDMs are not signed by Government Ministers, PPS or the Speaker of the House of Commons and very few are debated on the floor...

 to block the televised version of Tony Harrison

Tony Harrison

Tony Harrison is an English poet and playwright. He is noted for controversial works such as the poem V and Fram, as well as his versions of ancient Greek tragedies, including the Oresteia and Hecuba...

's poem 'V'

V (poem)

V is a poem by Tony Harrison written in 1985. The poem aroused much controversy when broadcast in film version on Channel 4.-Premise and setting:...

 on Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

, saying that members who opposed the broadcast had either not read or understood the poem.

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