Ray Aston

{{short description|Australian politician}}

{{Use Australian English|date=July 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Ray Aston

| honorific-suffix =

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| constituency_MP = Vaucluse

| parliament = New South Wales

| majority =

| term_start = 31 May 1986

| term_end = 23 May 1988

| predecessor = Rosemary Foot

| successor = Michael Yabsley

| prior_term =

| office2 = Minister for Corrective Services

| term_start2 = 26 March 1988

| term_end2 = 23 May 1988

| succeeding2 =

| predecessor2 = John Akister

| successor2 = John Fahey

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1943|09|24|df=y}}

| birth_place = {{NSWcity|Waverley}}, New South Wales

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1988|05|23|1943|09|24|df=y}}

| death_place = Sydney, New South Wales

| restingplace =

| restingplacecoordinates =

| birthname = Raymond William Aston

| citizenship =

| nationality = Australian

| party = Liberal

| otherparty =

| spouse =

| partner =

| relations =

| children =

| parents = William Aston {{small|(father)}}

| residence =

| alma_mater = University of Sydney

| occupation = Orthodontist

| profession =

| cabinet =

| religion =

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

Raymond William Aston (24 September 1943 – 23 May 1988) was an Australian politician. He was the Liberal member for Vaucluse in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1986 till his early death.

Ray Aston was born in the Sydney suburb of Waverley, the son of William Aston, who was Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives 1967–72. Having attended Waverley College, Aston graduated from the University of Sydney, becoming an orthodontist.{{Cite NSW Parliament |id=2006 |name=Mr Raymond William Aston |former=Yes |access-date=3 May 2019}} In 1986, he was selected as the Liberal candidate for a by-election to be held in the state seat of Vaucluse, which was being vacated by Liberal Deputy Leader Rosemary Foot. Aston was easily elected, gaining over 70% of the vote, with Labor not contesting the by-election, and his nearest rival, the Democrats candidate, polling just over 10%.

At the 1988 state election, Aston was comfortably re-elected and was appointed as Minister for Corrective Services. However, he died suddenly later that year in Sydney, aged 44.{{Cite NSW election |title=Elections for Vaucluse |year=DistrictIndexes |district=Vaucluse |accessdate=4 May 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/hanstrans.nsf/V3ByKey/LC19880523/$file/491LC006.PDF|type=PDF|title=Death of the Honourable Dr Raymond Williams Aston, B.D.S., D.Orth., R.C.S., M.P., Minister for Corrective Services|work=Hansard|publisher=Parliament of New South Wales: Legislative Council|date=23 May 1988|accessdate=26 July 2014}}