30 Facts About Ivan Lewis

Ivan Lewis was born on 4 March 1967 and is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament for Bury South from 1997 to 2019, initially as a member of the Labour Party then as an independent from 2017.

Ivan Lewis subsequently resigned from the Labour Party in December 2018, citing his concerns about antisemitism in the party and the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.

Ivan Lewis sat as an independent MP until the 2019 General Election, when he stood as an independent candidate in Bury South.

Ivan Lewis was born in Prestwich, in the Bury South constituency which he later represented, into a British Jewish family.

Ivan Lewis served as a Councillor on Bury Metropolitan Borough Council for the Sedgley ward, being elected in 1990 at 23 years of age and held the position of Chairman of the Social Services Committee.

Ivan Lewis further increased his majority in the 2001 General Election.

Ivan Lewis served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Stephen Byers from July 1999 to June 2001.

Between June 2001 and June 2002, Ivan Lewis was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Young People and Learning within the Department for Education and Skills and then for Adult Learning and Skills.

Ivan Lewis was involved with a scheme to introduce apprenticeships for 14-year-olds alongside their schooling, commenting that Britain needed to challenge "uniquely snobbish" attitudes toward vocational education.

Ivan Lewis then served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from May 2005 to May 2006.

Ivan Lewis was moved to a junior ministerial position in the Department of Health in the Cabinet reshuffle in May 2006.

Ivan Lewis described his own policy changes as "arguably the biggest redistribution of power from the state to the citizen that we have ever seen", while David Brindle of The Guardian praised him for having done a "huge amount" to raise the profile of social care.

In March 2008, Ivan Lewis warned that the Labour Party was losing touch with ordinary people under the leadership of Gordon Brown in an article written for Progress Online.

Ivan Lewis stated he believed the Government had lost touch with what fairness meant to the mainstream majority.

In 2008, the Department of Health confirmed Ivan Lewis had made an apology for his behaviour when in 2007 he began sending increasingly intimate text messages to then aide Susie Mason, which ultimately led to her registering concern, and successfully seeking an alternative position within the Civil Service before leaving for the private sector.

Angered, McBride then fed to the News of the World a story about Ivan Lewis allegedly pestering a young female civil servant in his private office.

On 3 October 2008, Ivan Lewis moved to the Department for International Development.

Ivan Lewis remained there until June 2009, when he was promoted to Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

Ivan Lewis was responsible for the UK's Middle East policy, the UK's relations with the US and China, counter terrorism and counter proliferation.

In 2009, The Guardian reported, following his promise to assist British users of the drug "Vioxx" with legal fees in their attempt to claim damages, Ivan Lewis changed his mind within hours of an "expensive lobbying effort" by Merck.

In October 2010, Ivan Lewis was elected by his fellow Labour MPs to the Shadow Cabinet and appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by Labour Leader Ed Miliband.

In September 2011, Ivan Lewis was reappointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.

In October 2013, Ivan Lewis was moved in a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle from the International Development portfolio to the Shadow Northern Ireland one.

Ivan Lewis reported that Corbyn had rejected his offer and informed him by text message that he had decided to give the role to another MP.

Ivan Lewis was one of the key figures influencing the Labour Party's political thinking and direction during Ed Miliband's leadership.

Ivan Lewis was one of the co-originators of the notion of One Nation Labour, which formed the foundation of Miliband's keynote speech at the Labour Party Conference held in Manchester in September 2012.

Ivan Lewis had originally floated the concept in a chapter written for The Purple Book, a collection of essays written by mainly senior figures in the party offering new policy ideas.

In February 2016, Ivan Lewis announced his intention to seek the Labour candidacy nomination for the post of the directly elected Mayor of Greater Manchester.

On 20 December 2018, Ivan Lewis resigned from the Labour Party in protest at alleged anti-Semitism in the party and Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.

Ivan Lewis initially intended to stand for re-election at the 2019 general election, but later withdrew his candidacy.