Early parliamentary career: 1986–1997

Raynsford was first elected a member of parliament (MP) 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,^[6] 10,146^[7] and 10,153^[8] respectively.

In opposition, Raynsford was Shadow Minister for Housing and Construction from 1994, and frontbench spokesperson for London from 1993. From 1992 to 1993, he was a member of the Environment Select Committee.^[9]

Ministerial career: 1997–2005

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.^[10]

As the government minister responsible for construction, 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.^[11] 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 (see Operation Sassoon). As a local government minister, he led the Local Government Act 2000 through Parliament, which repealed the controversial Section 28.^[12]

As Minister for London from 2001 to 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.^[12]

Later parliamentary career: 2005–2015

After the 2005 general election, Raynsford returned to the backbenches. In June 2009, he 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".^[13]

On 28 March 2010, The Sunday Times reported that Raynsford earned £9,000 per month from jobs in industries connected to his ministerial career. They focused around three areas of activity – housing, construction and local government – with which Raynsford has been involved throughout his working life.^[14]

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 sought to limit the impact of the bedroom tax on tenants in the social rented sector.^[15] He also co-chaired a parliamentary inquiry into youth unemployment which encouraged the promotion of apprenticeships in the construction industry.^[16]

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.^[17] He also advocated improved river crossings in East and South East London^[18] 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.^[19]

In March 2013, Raynsford announced his intention to stand down as MP for Greenwich and Woolwich at the next general election and cited his age as the reason behind his decision.^[20]