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Nick Raynsford

British politician (born 1945)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ575054 ↗
Source-derived summary

Wyvill Richard Nicolls Raynsford (born 28 January 1945), known as Nick Raynsford, is a British politician who served as a government minister from 1997 to 2005. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Greenwich and Woolwich, formerly Greenwich, from 1992 to 2015, having previously been MP for Fulham from 1986 to 1987.

Raised in Northamptonshire, Raynsford was educated at Repton School. He studied history at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he was involved in opposing the Vietnam War. After serving as a councillor in Hammersmith and Fulham and director of the Shelter Housing Aid Centre, he was elected at a 1986 by-election and served as an MP for a year until losing his seat at the subsequent general election.

Raynsford returned to Parliament at the 1992 general election and joined the government under the premiership of Tony Blair; his roles included Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Minister for London and Minister of State for Local and Regional Government. He stood down from the House of Commons prior to the 2015 general election, after which he went into the public sector advising on planning and construction.

Early life and education

The son of Wyvill Raynsford and Patricia Raynsford (née Dunn), Raynsford was brought up at Milton Manor in Milton Malsor, Northamptonshire. He was privately educated at Repton School and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a BA degree in History in 1966. At Cambridge, he was rusticated for a year after a night climbing incident in which he had displayed a banner against the Vietnam War between the pinnacles of King's College Chapel.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Nick Raynsford” as british politician (born 1945). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1945, 1997, 2005, 1992—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1945-01-28. The account is most persuasive where Nick, Raynsford and British can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as british politician (born 1945). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q575054. VIAF identifies the subject as 65475338. The Library of Congress control number is n85813718. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1945, 1997, 2005 and 1992.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Nick Raynsford”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Nick Raynsford primary sources, Nick Raynsford archive and Nick research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Nick Raynsford”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Nick Raynsford” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.