Brandon Lewis

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Brandon Kenneth Lewis (born 20 June 1971) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio since the January 2018 Cabinet reshuffle.. He is also a member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth and was first elected at the 2010 general election.

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Early life

Lewis was born on 20 June 1971 in Harold Wood, and educated at Forest School in Walthamstow. He received a degree in economics from the University of Buckingham, an LLB in Law from Buckingham, and an LLM in commercial law from King's College London. He was called to the bar by the Inner Temple.

He was a director of Woodlands Schools Limited, a provider of private primary schools based in Hutton, Essex until September 2012 when he resigned his position.

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Local government

In May 1998 Lewis became a borough councillor for Hutton South on Brentwood Borough Council, and later became Conservative Group leader in 2002. He was leader of the council from 2004 to 2009 before resigning as a councillor. During his time as leader of the council he co-hosted The Eric and Brandon Show with local MP Eric Pickles on Phoenix FM, a local radio station in Brentwood.

Under Lewis's leadership the council refused to identify land for additional traveller sites when required to by the government, citing greenbelt classification. Lewis claimed that the council was being "victimised".

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Parliamentary career

Lewis stood for election in the Sherwood constituency in 2001, losing to Paddy Tipping the Labour party candidate with a 34% share of the vote. He was selected to represent the Conservative party in the Great Yarmouth in 2006 and was elected at the 2010 general election, defeating sitting Labour MP Tony 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.

Lewis served on the Work and Pensions Select Committee and the Regulatory Reform Select Committee from his election until 2012. He has been a member of a number of All Party Parliamentary Groups, including time as the chair of the Local Growth group and co-chair of a group discussing coastal 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".

In January 2013 Lewis was criticised for comments he had made about local councillors' allowances by Clive Betts, the Chair of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee. Later 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". He has also attacked the Local Government Association for producing proposals to give local councils more freedom over their levels of council tax in the future.

Ministerial career

In September 2012 Lewis was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government, working under Eric Pickles. In July 2014, Lewis was promoted to Minister of State for Housing and Planning, when the Prime Minister brought the portfolios of Housing & Planning together for the first time under his premiership. He claimed that there had been a "dramatic swing" in public opinion - with almost half of people now in favour of new housing in their area. This related to the controversial National Planning Policy Framework, which made it substantially easier for developers to build on greenfield land.

In 2015 Lewis endorsed the regeneration of the historic townscape of Bacup in Rossendale, East Lancashire which aims to reposition the town as a commuter town for Greater Manchester as well as a cultural destination.

In July 2016, Lewis was promoted to be the Minister of State for the Home Office with a portfolio including Police & Fire services, as well as Europol & Interpol:

On 29 September 2016, he was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and may therefore use the title The Right Honourable.

In a January 2018 cabinet reshuffle, Lewis was promoted to Chairman of the Conservative Party succeeding long-time cabinet member Patrick McLoughlin. Lewis was also appointed Minister without portfolio.

Campaigns

Lewis has run a variety of campaigns as Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth. Campaigns have included opposing the removal of free bus passes for school children in Belton & Burgh Castle, cutting fuel duty, protecting Norfolk bus services, and improving Great Yarmouth railway station.

Expenses

Lewis ran for Parliament in 2010 on a "clean expenses pledge", pledging to be "completely open about my expenses". 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. Labour MPs called upon IPSA 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.

In August 2015, it was revealed that Lewis, claimed £31,000 of hotel expenses following stays at the Park Plaza hotel in London despite owning two homes both less than an hour from Westminster by train. Aside from his constituency home, Lewis owns two additional homes, one in Shenfield, and the other in Chelmsford, both less than an hour by train from Westminster. Between them, they are worth at least £3.5m.

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Personal life

Lewis married Justine Rappolt in 1999; the couple have two children. He completed the London Marathon in 2005 and 2008 and lists triathlon as an interest. He is a member of the Carlton Club.

When Banks Say No - Brandon Lewis - YouTube