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Richard Grayson (academic)

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Professor Richard Sean Grayson (born 18 April 1969 in Hemel Hempstead)[1] is Professor of Twentieth Century History at Goldsmiths, University of London.[2] He was educated at Lime Walk Primary School, Hemel Hempstead (Comprehensive) School, the University of East Anglia (1st Class BA Honours in English and American History), and The Queen’s College, Oxford (Doctor of Philosophy in Modern History.[3]

His historical research is currently concentrated on Ireland and the First World War, with his most recent book being Belfast Boys: How Unionists and Nationalists Fought and Died Together in the First World War (Continuum, 2009). It has been widely well reviewed.[4] Previous work includes books on Austen Chamberlain’s term of office as foreign secretary, the inter-war Liberal Party, Leo Amery and appeasement, the Channel Tunnel project, and Mods and Rockers in the 1960s.[5]

His work on public policy includes an edited volume on social liberalism co-edited with David Howarth and Duncan Brack and including contributions from Chris Huhne, Matthew Taylor, Nick Clegg and Steve Webb. In 2002 he co-wrote a pamphlet with Nick Clegg on secondary education systems, based on research in the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.[6] The pamphlet recommended the policy which became the ‘pupil premium’ included in the 2010 coalition agreement.[7] With Jonathan Rutherford he co-edited After the Crash: Reinventing the Left in Britain[8] which included chapters from Jon Cruddas, Caroline Lucas and Steve Webb. He has published an article on public policy in Newark, New Jersey, examining the work of Mayor Cory Booker, a friend from his time studying at Oxford.[9] He has commentated on politics for both the Independent and the Guardian (see ‘Political Commentary’ section below) and appeared on Any Questions.[10]

He has been involved in the Liberal Democrats at several levels of the party. He the party’s National Youth and Student Officer in 1991-2, Director of the Centre for Reform (now called CentreForum) in 1998-9, and was Director of Policy of the Liberal Democrats in 1999-2004. That role also included spending two years as Charles Kennedy’s speechwriter.[11] He was the party’s parliamentary candidate for Hemel Hempstead constituency in the 2005 and 2010 general elections, gaining 4.4% and 6% increases in the vote to move into second place.[12] In 2008 he was listed as 48th on the Daily Telegraph’s list of the 50 most influential Liberal Democrats[13] and in 2009 was placed in 39th.[14] He was Vice-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Federal Policy Committee in 2008-10[15] and has been a critic of the coalition between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats. In particular, he has argued that ‘The Liberal Democrat leadership believed in "savage cuts" long before they entered government’, that they have ‘no electoral mandate’ for parts of the 2010 Budget and that ‘Liberal Democrats may soon realise that a centre-left party is being led from the centre-right.’[16] This argument was cited in several newspapers, and has been developed in longer pieces for Compass and the New Statesman.[17] In December 2010 he urged Liberal Democrat members to seize the opportunity of Ed Miliband's leadership by engaging in dialogue with Labour.[18] Following that, he was invited by Ed Miliband to contribute to Labour's policy review and he accepted the invitation.[19] However, he remains active as a member of the Liberal Democrats and is part of the party's 'Facing the Future' 2010-11 policy review group.


Main publications

  • British Politics: A Beginner's Guide (Oxford: One World, 2010)[20]
  • (Co-editor with Jonathan Rutherford), After the Crash: Reinventing the Left in Britain (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 2010).[21]
  • Belfast Boys: How Unionists and Nationalists Fought and Died Together in the First World War (London: Continuum, 2009).
  • (Co-editor, with Duncan Brack and David Howarth), Reinventing the State: Social Liberalism for the 21st Century (London: Politicos, 2007).
  • 'Leo Amery's Imperialist Alternative to Appeasement in the 1930s', Twentieth Century British History, 17, 4 (2006), pp. 489–515.
  • (Co-author with Nick Clegg), Learning from Europe : Lessons in Education, (London : Centre for European Reform, 2002).[22]
  • Liberals, International Relations and Appeasement: The Liberal Party, 1919–39, (London: Frank Cass, 2001).
  • 'Mods, Rockers, and Juvenile Delinquency in 1964: The Government Response', Contemporary British History, 12, 1 (1998), pp. 19–47.
  • Austen Chamberlain and the Commitment to Europe: British Foreign Policy, 1924–29, (London: Frank Cass, 1997).
  • 'The British Government and the Channel Tunnel, 1919–39', Journal of Contemporary History, 31, 1 (Jan. 1996), pp. 125–144.

Political commentary

  • Clegg and Cameron's Illiberal 'Big Liberal Society', Guardian Comment is Free, 20 July 2010 [23]
  • 'The Struggle for the Soul of Liberalism', New Statesman, 12 July 2010, pp. 30–33 [24]
  • 'The Liberal Democrat Journey to a Lib-Con Coalition - and Where Next?'(London: Compass, 2010) [25]
  • The Lib Dem leadership’s self-flagellating appetite for cuts’, Guardian Comment is Free, 22 June 2010[26]
  • ‘Lib Dems must dare to be different over prisoners’ voting rights’, Guardian Comment is Free 9 June 2010[27]
  • ‘Lab and Lib: a dream team’ with Neal Lawson, Guardian Comment is Free 9 May 2010[28]
  • ‘Leader still needs to show that he is the man for No 10’, Independent, 19 September 2005
  • ‘The Liberal Democrats Still Face a Long Journey’, 14 May 2005, Independent, 14 May 2005[29]
  • ‘Don’t become too safe in your views Mr Kennedy’, Independent, 25 September 2004.

References

  1. ^ Jock Gallagher, ed., Who’s Who in the Liberal Democrats, 3rd Edition, (Malvern: PCA Books, 2002), pp. 154-5
  2. ^ http://www.gold.ac.uk/history/staff/graysonprofrichard/> (accessed 1 September 2010)
  3. ^ http://www.hhlibdems.org.uk/pages/richardgrayson.html (accessed 24 June 2010); Jock Gallagher, ed., Who’s Who in the Liberal Democrats, 3rd Edition, (Malvern: PCA Books, 2002), pp. 154-5.
  4. ^ http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=129829&SearchType=Basic (accessed 24 June 2010).
  5. ^ http://www.gold.ac.uk/history/staff/graysonprofrichard/> (accessed 1 September 2010)
  6. ^ http://www.cer.org.uk/pdf/wp_education.pdf (accessed 24 June 2010).
  7. ^ http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/409088/pfg_coalition.pdf p. 15 (accessed 24 June 2010).
  8. ^ http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/ebooks/After%20the%20Crash%20(Final).pdf (accessed 24 June 2010).
  9. ^ 'Localism the American Way', Public Policy Research, 17, 2 (2010), pp. 75-9.
  10. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/anyquestions_transcripts_20060303.shtml (accessed 24 June 2010).
  11. ^ http://www.hhlibdems.org.uk/pages/richardgrayson.html (accessed 29 June 2010).
  12. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/310.stm and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/c12.stm (accessed 24 June 2010)
  13. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/liberaldemocrats/2824165/The-50-most-influential-Liberal-Democrats-41-50.html (accessed 29 June 2010).
  14. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/liberaldemocrats/6206525/Top-50-most-influential-Liberal-Democrats-50-26.html (accessed 29 June 2010).
  15. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/richard-grayson (accessed 24 June 2010)
  16. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/22/lib-dem-leadership-cuts and http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jun/22/budget-2010-liberal-democrats-richard-grayson (accessed 24 June 2010)
  17. ^ Times 23 June 2010, p. 7 http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/budget/article2569152.ece (accessed 29 June 2010); Guardian, 24 June 2010 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/23/george-osborne-fairness-claim-fraud (accessed 29 June 2010), p. 33; Daily Mirror, 24 June 2010, p. 8 http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/06/24/clegg-revolt-115875-22355825/ (accessed 29 June 2010).
  18. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/11/richard-grayson-lib-dem-labour-coalition
  19. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/dec/13/ed-miliband-disillusioned-liberal-democrats-labour
  20. ^ http://www.oneworld-publications.com/cgi-bin/cart/commerce.cgi?pid=564&log_pid=yes
  21. ^ http://www.lwbooks.co.uk/ebooks/After%20the%20Crash%20(Final).pdf
  22. ^ http://www.cer.org.uk/pdf/wp_education.pdf
  23. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/20/local-councils-public-sector-cuts
  24. ^ http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2010/07/liberal-democrats-social-party
  25. ^ http://clients.squareeye.com/uploads/compass/documents/Compass%20LD%20Journey%20WEB.pdf
  26. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/22/lib-dem-leadership-cuts (accessed 24 June 2010)
  27. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/09/liberal-democrats-prisoners-voting-rights (accessed 24 June 2010)
  28. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/09/labour-liberal-democrats-progressive-alliance (accessed 24 June 2010)
  29. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/richard-grayson-the-liberal-democrats-still-face-a-long-journey-490644.html (accessed 24 June 2010)

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