Raynsford was a councillor for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham from 1971 to 1975. Before he was elected to Parliament he was Director of the Shelter Housing Aid Centre. He says a major reason he chose to seek parliamentary office was his involvement in campaigning for better provision for the homeless, achieved through the 1977 Homeless Persons Act. The 1977 Act extended local council responsibility "to provide accommodation for homeless people in their area," and instituted the right of homeless families to a permanent local council tenancy.
Member of Parliament
Raynsford was first elected a member of parliament for the Labour Party in a by-election in Fulham Constituency in 1986, but at the 1987 General Election lost to Conservative candidate Matthew Carrington. He then became MP for Greenwich at the 1992 general election, and at the 1997 general election he won the re-drawn seat of Greenwich & Woolwich. He retained the seat at the 2001, 2005 and 2010 general elections, with majorities of 13,433, 10,146 and 10,153 respectively. In opposition, Raynsford was Shadow Minister for Housing and Construction from 1994, and front-bench spokesperson for London from 1993. From 1992 to 1993, he was a member of the Environment Select Committee. Raynsford joined the Government in 1997 and held responsibility for construction, housing, planning and the regions. During this time he was responsible for the implementation of the Decent Homes Standard. In 1997, there were 2.1m houses owned by local authorities and housing associations that didn't meet the Decent Homes Standard. By the end of 2010, 92% of social housing met the standard of being warm and weatherproof with reasonably modern facilities. As Construction Minister, Raynsford was credited with introducing building regulations which significantly improved standards, including making mandatory disabled access in new builds, increasing energy efficiency standards and fire safety. His position also included responsibility for the Fire Service and the creation of the London Resilience Forum to oversee London's preparedness for dealing with emergencies. As Local Government Minister he led the Local Government Act 2000 through Parliament, which repealed the controversial Section 28. As Minister for London from 2001 until 2003, Raynsford was responsible for restoring democratic citywide government to London, and the creation of the Greater London Authority and the commission of its home at City Hall. After the 2005 general election he returned to the backbenches. In June 2009, Raynsford publicly called for Gordon Brown to resign as Prime Minister, stating at the time, "I personally have considerable respect for Gordon Brown but his leadership is now so seriously damaged that I can't see the likelihood of him leading Labour successfully into the next general election. It's now appropriate for the party to look for a new leader". In opposition again in the 2010–15 Parliament, Raynsford was a consistent critic of the Bedroom tax, and in July 2014 co-sponsored the Affordable Homes Bill, which seeks to limit the impact of the Bedroom tax on tenants in the social rented sector. He also co-chaired a Parliamentary inquiry into youth unemployment which encouraged the promotion of apprenticeships in the construction industry. As a constituency MP, Raynsford promoted regeneration in the Greenwich Borough, including campaigns for the North Greenwich Station on the Jubilee Line, the extension of the DLR to Greenwich and Woolwich, and the campaign to secure a Crossrail Station in Woolwich, and support for bringing the Olympics to his constituency. He also advocated improved river crossings in East and South East London In May 2014 he expressed his opposition to a memorial to murdered soldier Lee Rigby, suggesting it ""would not in my view be helpful" because it "might attract undesirable interest from extremists". Greenwich Council noted they had been "overwhelmed by interest in a local memorial", but also opposed the tribute. In 2013 Raynsford announced his intention to stand down as Greenwich and Woolwich MP at the next General Election, citing his age as a factor.
Additional work
On 28 March 2010, The Sunday Times reported that Raynsford earns £9,000 per month from jobs in industries connected to his ministerial career. They focus around three areas of activity – housing, construction and local government – with which Raynsford has been involved throughout his working life. Raynsford remains involved with UK construction. He is chair of CICAIR Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Construction Industry Council which maintains and operates the Construction Industry Council Approved Inspectors Register regulating 'Approved Inspectors' qualified to undertake building control work. Since January 2019, Raynsford has been Deputy Chairman of Crossrail Limited.
Personal life
He married Anne Jelley in 1968, and they had three daughters. They were divorced in 2011, and he is now the husband of Alison Seabeck, the former Labour MP for Plymouth Moor View. Raynsford's ancestry can be seen in Burke's Landed Gentry.
