Jeremy Bray

Jeremy William Bray (29 June 193031 May 2002) was a British Labour politician and a Member of Parliament for 31 years.

Early life and education Bray was born in British Hong Kong, the son of Reverend Arthur Bray, a Methodist missionary. He spent his formative years in Foshan, until he and his family were evacuated by gunboat prior to the arrival of the Japanese army in 1941. Returning to Britain, he attended Eastnor Village School, Aberystwyth Grammar School, Kingswood School, Bath (1942–48) and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he graduated as a Wrangler in 1953. Staying on at Cambridge to conduct doctoral research in pure mathematics under the supervision of J. E. Littlewood, he spent a year abroad as a Choate Fellow at Harvard University in 1955–56. He also spent some time working as a research officer at the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Cambridge, collaborating with the future Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Richard Stone and Terry Barker on the Cambridge Growth Project.

Political career Bray unsuccessfully contested Thirsk and Malton for Labour in 1959. He was first elected as MP for Middlesbrough West in a 1962 by-election. During Harold Wilson's second term in office Bray was parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of Power (1966–67) and Ministry of Technology (1967–69), serving under Richard Marsh and Tony Benn respectively. His autobiography, Standing on the Shoulders of Giants, was published posthumously by his wife in 2004.