Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington
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The Right Honourable The Lord Young of Dartington |
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| Member of the House of Lords | |
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In office 20 March 1978 – 14 January 2002 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
9 August 1915 Manchester, England |
| Died | 14 January 2002 (aged 86) London, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | Joan Lawson (m. 1945–60) Sasha Moorsom (m. 1960–93) Dorit Uhlemann (m. 1995–2002) |
| Relations | Toby Young, son |
| Children | 3 sons and 3 daughters |
| Alma mater | London School of Economics |
| Awards | Albert Medal (1992) |
Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington (9 August 1915 – 14 January 2002) was a British sociologist, social activist and politician who coined the term "".
During an active life he was instrumental in shaping Labour Party thinking. When secretary of the policy committee of the Labour Party he was responsible for drafting "Let Us Face the Future", Labour's manifesto for the 1945 general election, was a leading protagonist on social reform, and founded or helped found a number of socially useful organisations. These include the Consumers' Association, Which? magazine, the National Consumer Council, the Open University, the National Extension College, the Open College of the Arts and Language Line, a telephone-interpreting business.
Young was born in Manchester, the son of an Australian violinist and music critic, and an Irish Bohemian painter and actress. Until he was eight, he grew up in Melbourne, returning to England shortly before his parents' marriage broke up. He attended several schools, eventually entering Dartington Hall, a new progressive school in Devon, in the 1920s. He had a long association with the small school, as student, trustee, deputy chairman and historian. He studied economics at the London School of Economics then became a barrister when he applied to be called to the Bar in 1939.
During the Second World War, Young served as director of the Political and Economic Planning think tank and became director of research for the Labour Party where he wrote the manifesto for the 1945 general election and the vast speakers' handbook. He served under the Labour Party government led by Clement Attlee, but left in 1950 claiming the party had run out of ideas. He called for the establishment of a Social Science Research Council and became its first director 17 years later.
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