Sir Brandon Lewis | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 September 2022 – 25 October 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Liz Truss | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Dominic Raab | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Dominic Raab | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Northern Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 13 February 2020 – 7 July 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Julian Smith | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Shailesh Vara | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Security and Deputy for EU Exit and No Deal Preparation | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 24 July 2019 – 13 February 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Ben Wallace[a] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | James Brokenshire[b] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman of the Conservative Party | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 8 January 2018 – 24 July 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Theresa May | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Patrick McLoughlin | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | James Cleverly | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister without Portfolio | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 8 January 2018 – 24 July 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Theresa May | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Robert Halfon[c] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | James Cleverly | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Immigration | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 11 June 2017 – 8 January 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Theresa May | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Robert Goodwill | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Caroline Nokes | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 16 July 2016 – 11 June 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Theresa May | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Mike Penning | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Nick Hurd | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Housing and Planning[d] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 15 July 2014 – 16 July 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | David Cameron | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Kris Hopkins | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Gavin Barwell | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 4 September 2012 – 15 July 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | David Cameron | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Bob Neill | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Kris Hopkins | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forGreat Yarmouth | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Tony Wright | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Rupert Lowe | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Brandon Kenneth Lewis (1971-06-20)20 June 1971 (age 54) Harold Wood, London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Buckingham King's College London Inns of Court School of Law Inner Temple | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | brandonlewis | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sir Brandon Kenneth Lewis (born 20 June 1971) is a British politician who served asSecretary of State for Justice andLord Chancellor from September to October 2022.[1] He previously served asChairman of the Conservative Party from 2018 to 2019 andSecretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2020 to 2022. A member of theConservative Party, he wasMember of Parliament (MP) forGreat Yarmouth from 2010 to 2024.
Born inHarold Wood, Lewis attended the independentForest School. He studied economics at theUniversity of Buckingham, switching toKing's College London for his master's degree. He then began a career as a barrister. He was a councillor onBrentwood Borough Council from 1998 to 2009 and served as leader of the council from 2004 to 2009. He was elected as the MP for Great Yarmouth at the2010 general election.
Lewis served under Prime MinisterDavid Cameron asParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2012 to 2014 andMinister of State for Housing and Planning from 2014 to 2016. Lewis served under Cameron’s successor,Theresa May, asMinister of State for Policing and the Fire Service from 2016 to 2017 andMinister of State for Immigration from 2017 to 2018. He was appointed to May’s Cabinet as Chairman of the Conservative Party andMinister without Portfolio in the2018 cabinet reshuffle. After May resigned in 2019, Lewis was appointedMinister of State for Security and Deputy for EU Exit and No Deal Preparation by Prime MinisterBoris Johnson. In the2020 cabinet reshuffle, he was promoted by Johnson to Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. He resigned from this post during theJuly 2022 government crisis. Following the appointment ofLiz Truss as Prime Minister, Lewis was appointed asLord Chancellor andSecretary of State for Justice. He returned to the backbenches the following month after being dismissed by Prime MinisterRishi Sunak and stood down from parliament at the2024 general election.
Lewis was born on 20 June 1971 inHarold Wood in London. He was educated atForest School inWalthamstow.[2] He received aBSc degree in Economics from theUniversity of Buckingham, anLLBhonours degree in Law from the same institution, and anLLM in commercial law fromKing's College London.[2][3] He wascalled to the bar by theInner Temple.
He was a director of Woodlands Schools Limited, a provider of private primary schools based inHutton,Essex, until September 2012 when he resigned his position.[4]
In May 1998 Lewis was first elected as a representative of the Conservative Party when he became a Borough Councillor forHutton South onBrentwood Borough Council.[5]
He stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative Party candidate for election in theSherwood constituency in the2001 general election; he lost toPaddy Tipping, the Labour Party candidate, with 34% of the vote.[5][6]
He was re-elected to Brentwood Borough Council 2002 and 2006 with an increased vote share.[7] He later became Conservative Group leader in 2002 and leader of the council in 2004, after his party took control of the local authority. He remained in this position until 2009, when he resigned as a councillor in Essex to focus on seeking election as an MP in Norfolk.[2]
During his time as leader of the council he co-hostedThe Eric and Brandon Show with local MPEric Pickles onPhoenix FM, a local radio station in Brentwood.[8]
In 2006, Lewis was selected as Conservativeprospective parliamentary candidate in theGreat Yarmouth constituency; he was elected at the2010 general election, defeating sitting Labour MPTony Wright with a majority of just over 4000 – a swing to the Conservatives of 8.7% in the seat which was number 66 on their list of target seats.[9][10] Lewis had stood for Parliament on a "clean expenses pledge", pledging to be "completely open about my expenses".[11]
Lewis served on theWork and Pensions Select Committee and theRegulatory Reform Select Committee from his election until 2012.[12] He has been a member of a number ofall-party parliamentary groups, including time as the chair of the Local Growth group and co-chair of a group discussingcoastal erosion. A report by the Local Growth group in September 2012, when it was chaired by Lewis, criticised the Government for an "uncoordinated" approach to its Local Enterprise Partnership policy which, according to Lewis, left "gaps and weaknesses".[13][14]
In 2010–2011 Lewis claimed just over £15,000 in accommodation expenses and in 2011–12 and 2012–13 he claimed just under £21,500 for accommodation.[15]
In theHouse of Commons he previously sat on the Work and Pensions Committee and the Regulatory Reform Committee.[16]
Lewis ran a variety of campaigns as MP for Great Yarmouth, including cutting fuel duty,[17] protecting Norfolk bus services,[18] and improvingGreat Yarmouth railway station.[19]
In September 2012 Lewis was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at theDepartment for Communities and Local Government, working underEric Pickles. In July 2014, Lewis was promoted toMinister of State for Housing and Planning, when the prime minister brought the portfolios of Housing and Planning together for the first time under his premiership.[20] He said that there had been a "dramatic swing" in public opinion – with almost half of people now in favour of new housing in their area.[21] This related to the newNational Planning Policy Framework, the primary framework for town planning in the country, which some argued made it substantially easier for developers to build on greenfield land.
As the local MP, Lewis declined initially to support local campaigners who were fighting against the Conservative run county council's controversial plans for the proposed King's Lynn incinerator. By 2012 he had joined all fellow local MPs in expressing concern with the proposal and, after a change in leadership of the county council, the plans for the incinerator were dropped in 2014.[22][23][24]
Lewis previously sat on the House of Commons Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission.[16]
In 2013 Lewis was critical of local councils, including many Conservative run councils, planning council tax rises in 2013 against the wishes of the Government, saying that there was "still massive scope" for councils to cut "waste and inefficiency".[25][26][27] He has also criticised theLocal Government Association for producing proposals to give local councils more freedom over their levels ofcouncil tax in the future.[28]
Labour MPs called uponIPSA to investigate whether Lewis was using taxpayer funds for inappropriate political purposes after it was revealed that he had claimed £37,000 for "research briefing and other parliamentary associated assistance" to a political campaign consultancy.[29][needs update]
In August 2015, it was reported that Lewis claimed £31,000 of hotel expenses over a two-year period following stays at the Park Plaza hotel near Parliament. Lewis stated that he opted to stay in London rather than travel home to Essex and all the claims complied with parliamentary rules.[30]
He supported the United Kingdom remaining a member of the European Union in the2016 EU membership referendum.[31] In July 2016, Lewis was promoted to be the minister of state for the Home Office with a portfolio including Police and Fire services, as well asEuropol andInterpol.[32]
Following theGrenfell disaster, Lewis was criticised for having rejected calls to increase fire safety regulations in his former role ashousing minister. He had argued that legislating to mandate sprinklers in high rise buildings was the wrong approach as water-based sprinklers were inappropriate for electrical fires.[33]
In aJanuary 2018 cabinet reshuffle, Lewis was promoted toChairman of the Conservative Party, succeedingPatrick McLoughlin. Lewis was also appointedMinister without Portfolio.[34]
On 19 July,Government Chief WhipJulian Smith was reported to be resisting calls to resign his position, following allegations that he had instructed five Conservative Party MPs to break "pairing" agreements in an important parliamentary vote the previous day. Lewis was the only one to comply with the instruction. Subsequent reports indicated that Smith had given similar instructions to five MPs, but that Lewis had been the only one willing to break what one commentator described later as "a centuries old 'code of honour'". Before it became known that the affair had involved approaches by Smith to more than one MP, the prime ministerTheresa May backed Lewis by stating that "The breaking of the pair was done in error. It wasn't good enough and will not be repeated."[35]
In 2019, Lewis voted for May'sBrexit withdrawal agreement.[36]
In July 2019, Lewis was appointedMinister of State for Security and Deputy for EU Exit and No Deal Preparation by new Prime MinisterBoris Johnson.[37]
In February 2020 he moved to be thesecretary of state for Northern Ireland as part ofa cabinet reshuffle under Johnson.[38]
He robustly defended the Government's support for theNorthern Ireland Protocol. Lewis also responded to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland.[39]
In September 2020, Lewis provoked controversy when he conceded thata bill designed to amend the United Kingdom's withdrawal agreement with theEuropean Union would "break international law" in a "specific and limited way".[40]
On 6 July 2022, Lewis told Johnson he needed to step down from office due to a loss in support, during theJuly 2022 government crisis.[41] Lewis resigned on 7 July, after turning down offers of promotion from Johnson, saying the Government was no longer upholding "honesty, integrity and mutual respect".[42]
Lewis ranNadhim Zahawi's campaign in theJuly–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[43] After Zahawi was eliminated from the contest, Lewis endorsedLiz Truss's leadership bid.[42]
Lewis was appointedLord Chancellor andSecretary of State for Justice on 6 September 2022 afterLiz Truss became the prime minister.[44]
On 29 September, Lewis negotiated a deal with the Criminal Bar Association to end the2022 British barristers' industrial action.[45] The deal included a 15% increase in legal aid fees to cases in theCrown Court, £3,000,000 of funding for case preparation and £4,000,000 for prerecorded cross-examinations of vulnerable victims and witnesses.[46] On 10 October, 57% of barristers voted to end the strike and Crown Court cases began to be heard as normal from 11 October.[47][48]
On 25 October 2022, Lewis resigned from the front bench upon the ascension ofRishi Sunak to the Prime Ministership and returned to the backbenches.[49] He was succeeded as Justice Secretary byDominic Raab.
Lewis was criticised in a September 2023Eastern Daily Express article for charging nearly £10,000 in expenses for social media content produced by external production companiesWestminster Digital and Millbank Creative.[50]
In October 2023, Lewis was appointed to a part-time role as leader of the Chair's Advisory Council of the international investment firmLetterOne.[51][52][53]
In March 2024, Lewis announced he would not seek re-election at the2024 general election.[54] Lewis took five new part-time jobs paying £410,000 a year while still an MP.[55]
Lewis married Justine Rappolt in 1999; the couple have two children.[2] He completed theLondon Marathon in 2005 and 2008 and lists triathlon as an interest.[2][56] He is a member of theCarlton Club.[2]
In 2023, Lewis toldGB News that since turning 50 he had lost nearly five stone, (approximately 30 Kg) which he credited to beating achocolate addiction.[57][58]
On 29 September 2016, Lewis was sworn in to thePrivy Council, giving him thehonorific title "The Right Honourable" for life.[59] In the2019 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, he was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for political and public service in September 2019.[60]
Lewis wasknighted on 16 June 2023 in the2023 Political Honours for public and political service.[61][62]
| Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain andSecretary of State for Constitutional Affairs 2003–2007 | .svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain andSecretary of State for Justice 2007–present | ||
| Cabinet members | _(St_Edwards_Crown).svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Also attended meetings | ||
| Departures | ||
Johnson cabinets | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| Cabinet members | | |
|---|---|---|
| Also attended meetings | ||
| Departures | ||
| Asylum and immigration 1999–2002 | | |
|---|---|---|
| Immigration, citizenship and counter-terrorism 2002–2005 | ||
| Immigration, citizenship and nationality 2005–2006 | ||
| Borders and immigration 2006–2010 | ||
| Immigration 2010–2023 | ||
| Legal migration and delivery 2023–2024 | ||
| ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
