His father Richard Wainwright was the Liberal MP for Colne Valley (1966–70, February 1974–87) after a career in accountancy.
[3] Wainwright was The Guardian's Northern Editor[2] for 17 years until the end of 2012, when he was succeeded by Helen Pidd.
[6] Wainwright was awarded an MBE in the 2000 New Year Honours, "For services to the National Lottery Charities Board in Yorkshire and Humberside.
[12][13] One of Wainwright's two sisters, Hilary, is the radical academic who has long been associated with the Red Pepper magazine.
His two sons are both journalists – Oliver[14] is The Guardian's architecture and design critic[15] and Tom is the Economist's Mexico City bureau chief.