44 Facts About Brandon Lewis

Brandon Kenneth Lewis was born on 20 June 1971 and is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor from September to October 2022.

Brandon Lewis previously served as Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2018 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2020 to 2022.

Brandon Lewis studied economics at the University of Buckingham, switching to King's College London for his master's degree.

Brandon Lewis was a councillor on Brentwood Borough Council from 1998 to 2009 and served as leader of the council from 2004 to 2009.

Brandon Lewis was elected for Great Yarmouth at the 2010 general election.

Brandon Lewis served under Prime Minister David Cameron as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2012 to 2014 and Minister of State for Housing and Planning from 2014 to 2016.

Brandon Lewis served under Cameron's successor, Theresa May, as Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service from 2016 to 2017 and Minister of State for Immigration from 2017 to 2018.

Brandon Lewis was appointed to May's Cabinet as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio in the 2018 cabinet reshuffle.

Brandon Lewis resigned from this post during the July 2022 government crisis.

Brandon Lewis was born on 20 June 1971 in Harold Wood in London.

Brandon Lewis received a BSc degree in Economics from the University of Buckingham, an LLB honours degree in Law from the same institution, and an LLM in Commercial Law from King's College London.

Brandon Lewis was called to the bar by the Inner Temple.

Brandon Lewis 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.

In May 1998 Brandon Lewis was first elected as a representative of the Conservative Party when he became a Borough Councillor for Hutton South on Brentwood Borough Council.

Brandon Lewis was re-elected to Brentwood Borough Council 2002 and 2006 with an increased vote share.

Brandon Lewis later became Conservative Group leader in 2002 and leader of the council in 2004, after his party took control of the local authority.

Brandon Lewis remained in this position until 2009, when he resigned as a councillor in Essex to focus on seeking election as an MP in Norfolk.

Brandon Lewis had stood for Parliament on a "clean expenses pledge", pledging to be "completely open about my expenses".

Brandon Lewis served on the Work and Pensions Select Committee and the Regulatory Reform Select Committee from his election until 2012.

Brandon Lewis 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.

Brandon Lewis has run a variety of campaigns as Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth.

In September 2012 Brandon Lewis was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government, working under Eric Pickles.

In July 2014, Brandon Lewis was promoted to Minister 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.

Brandon Lewis previously sat on the House of Commons Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission.

In 2013 Brandon 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".

Brandon Lewis has criticised the Local Government Association for producing proposals to give local councils more freedom over their levels of council tax in the future.

Brandon Lewis stated that he opted to stay in London rather than travel home to Essex and all the claims complied with parliamentary rules.

Brandon Lewis supported the United Kingdom remaining a member of the European Union in the 2016 EU membership referendum.

In July 2016, Brandon Lewis was promoted to be the minister of state for the Home Office with a portfolio including Police and Fire services, as well as Europol and Interpol.

Brandon Lewis had argued that legislating to mandate sprinklers in high rise buildings was the wrong approach as water-based sprinklers were inappropriate for electrical fires.

Brandon Lewis was the only one to comply with the instruction.

Subsequent reports indicated that Smith had given similar instructions to five MPs, but that Brandon Lewis had been the only one willing to break what one commentator described later as "a centuries old 'code of honour'".

In July 2019, Brandon Lewis was appointed Minister of State for Security and Deputy for EU Exit and No Deal Preparation by new Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Brandon Lewis robustly defended the Government's support for the Northern Ireland Protocol.

In September 2020, Brandon Lewis provoked controversy when he conceded that a bill designed to amend the United Kingdom's withdrawal agreement with the European Union would "break international law" in a "specific and limited way".

On 6 July 2022, Brandon Lewis told Johnson he needed to step down from office due to a loss in support, during the July 2022 government crisis.

Brandon Lewis ran Nadhim Zahawi's campaign in the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.

Brandon Lewis was appointed Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice on 6 September 2022 after Liz Truss became the prime minister.

On 29 September, Brandon Lewis negotiated a deal with the Criminal Bar Association to end the 2022 British barristers' industrial action.

On 25 October 2022, Brandon Lewis resigned from the front bench upon the ascension of Rishi Sunak to the Prime Ministership and returned to the backbenches.

Brandon Lewis was succeeded as Justice Secretary by Dominic Raab.

Brandon Lewis married Justine Rappolt in 1999; the couple have two children.

Brandon Lewis completed the London Marathon in 2005 and 2008 and lists triathlon as an interest.

On 29 September 2016, Brandon Lewis was sworn in to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, giving him the honorific title "The Right Honourable" for life.