Sir Timothy Hugh Francis Raison (3 November 1929 – 3 November 2011), was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Conservative

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 politician who began his career as a journalist, first working on Picture Post

Picture Post

Picture Post was a prominent photojournalistic magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1957. It is considered a pioneering example of photojournalism and was an immediate success, selling 1,700,000 copies a week after only two months...

(of which his father, Maxwell Raison, was managing editor), then New Scientist

New Scientist

New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...

. Whilst at New Scientist he also edited Crossbow, journal of the Bow Group

Bow Group

The Bow Group is one of the oldest think tanks in the United Kingdom. Taking its name from the Bow area of London where it first met, it was founded in 1951...

 (a left of centre group within the Conservative Party). He edited the social science magazine New Society from 1962 until 1968 and was MP for Aylesbury

Aylesbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Aylesbury is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The Conservative Party has held the seat since 1924, and held it at the 2010 general election with a 52.2% share of the vote.-Boundaries:...

 from 1970 until his retirement in 1992. He served as a junior Education and Science Minister (1973–1974), a Home Office minister (1979–1983), and Minister for Overseas Development

Secretary of State for International Development

In the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State for International Development is a Cabinet minister responsible for the Department for International Development and for promoting development overseas, particularly in the third world...

 (1983–1986).

Timothy Raison was educated at the Dragon School

Dragon School

The Dragon School is a British coeducational, preparatory school in the city of Oxford, founded in 1877 as the Oxford Preparatory School, or OPS. It is primarily known as a boarding school, although it also takes day pupils...

 in Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

.Later he attained a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...

.