About Richard Grayson

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Hemel Hempstead

Richard Grayson on Facebook

• Contact Richard.

Dr Richard Grayson married Lucy in 1995, and their son, Edward, was born in February 2002. They live in Hemel Hempstead, where Richard was born and brought up.

In his spare time, Richard is a supporter of Queen's Park Rangers F.C., a keen watcher of films, and is researching his family history in Herts, Bucks, Bury and Northern Ireland.

1969: Born in St. Paul's Hospital, Hemel Hempstead.

1974-80: Lime Walk JMI School, Bennett's End.

1980-87: Hemel Hempstead School, where he was Head Boy in his final year.

1987-91: Studied English and American History at the University of East Anglia, gaining a First Class Honours Degree. In 1989-90 he was sabbatical General Secretary (equivalent to President at other universities) of the Students' Union.

1991-92: National Youth and Student Officer, Liberal Democrat HQ, Westminster.

1992-95: Studied Modern History at Oxford University and was awarded a doctorate.

1994-98: University tutor/lecturer at the Open University, University of East Anglia and Buckingham University, and at colleges of Oxford University. In 1997 he published his first book, on British foreign policy in the 1920s.

1998-99: The first Director of the Centre for Reform, the Liberal Democrat think tank.

1999-2004: Liberal Democrat Director of Policy. From 1999-2001 he was also Charles Kennedy's principal speech-writer, and in 2001 he published his second book, on the Liberal Party in the 1920s and 1930s.

2004-now: Department of Politics, Goldsmiths, University of London: Head of Politics Department (2006-9) and currently Senior Lecturer in British and Irish Politics.