Julian Lewis
Encyclopedia
Dr. Julian Murray Lewis (born 26 September 1951) is a British
Conservative Party
politician
, who has been the Member of Parliament
(MP) for New Forest East in Hampshire
since the 1997 general election
.
, Dr. Julian Lewis was educated at Dynevor School, Swansea
, at Balliol College, Oxford
, from which he received an MA in Philosophy and Politics in 1977, and at St Antony's College, Oxford
, from which he received a DPhil
in Strategic Studies in 1981.
moderate and briefly won control of Newham North East
Constituency Labour Party, in an unsuccessful attempt to reverse the deselection of the local MP, Reg Prentice
. Prentice himself eventually joined the Conservatives.
, and other Left-wing organisations, throughout the 1980s. From 1981-5, he was Research Director of the Coalition for Peace through Security
. From 1985, he has been Director of Policy Research Associates. In Parliament, he actively pursues the retention and renewal of the British strategic nuclear deterrent, the UK Trident programme
.
With fellow Conservative John Bercow
- later elected Speaker of the House of Commons - he ran an Advanced Speaking and Campaigning course for more than ten years, which trained over 600 Conservatives (including several current MPs) in campaigning and communication techniques.
From 1990 to 1996, he was a Deputy Director of the Research Department at Conservative Central Office, but resigned to campaign against Britain joining the single European currency before opposition to the euro
was officially adopted by the Conservative Party.
at the 1983 general election
.
As MP for New Forest East, he successfully opposed the development of a large container port at Dibden Bay, between Marchwood
and Hythe
, and waged other high-profile local campaigns. In Parliament, he was a Shadow Defence Minister from 2002 to 2004 and from 2005 to 2010, also serving as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2004 to 2005, and as an Opposition Whip from 2001 to 2002. Before joining the Front Bench, he was a Member of the Defence Select Committee and the Welsh Select Committee, and had also been elected to the Executive of the Conservative Party's 1922 Committee.
With the creation of the Liberal-Conservative Coalition as a result of the election of a hung parliament
in 2010, the post which he had shadowed (Minister for the Armed Forces) was allocated to the Liberal Democrat Defence spokesman, Nick Harvey MP. Dr Lewis was appointed as a member of Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee in September 2010. He is a Vice-Chairman of Conservative Friends of Poland.
He has been described by the Daily Telegraph as "one of the most vigorous rightwingers
in the Commons" and by The Guardian
as the Conservative Party's "front bench terrier".
, that 14 MPs' home addresses should be published, could never be repeated in respect of any other Parliamentarians. More than 250 backbenchers from all parties, as well as members of the Government and the Shadow Cabinet, supported this campaign.
In March 2009, his amendment to the Political Parties and Elections Bill was carried by a majority of 59. It removed the requirement for General Election candidates to disclose their home addresses on nomination and ballot papers, and was upheld by a majority of 72 when the Bill went through the House of Lords in July 2009.
In both Houses, Labour and Conservatives were granted Free Votes on the 'Lewis Amendment', and Liberal Democrats were whipped to vote against it.
alleged that Dr Lewis had tried to claim the £6,000 cost of a wooden floor in his second home, but he maintained that: “At no stage did I claim for the flooring and it did not cost the taxpayer a penny”. A senior Commons official confirmed that, by seeking advice in advance about second home expenditure, he had acted "in accordance with best practice as recommended by this department" and that "it is not true that you attempted to claim £6000 in expenses for a wooden floor at your second home". At the end of June 2009, Dr Lewis was informed by the Conservative Party's Scrutiny Panel, after examination of his expenses claims, that "we do not require you to answer any queries about them and there is no requirement for any repayments to be made", and the Daily Telegraphs subsequent book entitled No Expenses Spared made no reference to any which Dr Lewis had claimed.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, who has been the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for New Forest East in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
since the 1997 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
.
Education
Born on 26 September 1951 in SwanseaSwansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, Dr. Julian Lewis was educated at Dynevor School, Swansea
Dynevor School, Swansea
Dynevor School was a secondary school in Swansea, Wales. It was closed in 2002. The school's premises have been re-developed and are now used by the Swansea Metropolitan University .-Notable alumni:*Rowan Williams - Archbishop of Canterbury...
, at Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, from which he received an MA in Philosophy and Politics in 1977, and at St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College, Oxford
St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.St Antony's is the most international of the seven all-graduate colleges of the University of Oxford, specialising in international relations, economics, politics, and history of particular parts of the...
, from which he received a DPhil
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in Strategic Studies in 1981.
Student activism
In 1976, with secret funding from the Freedom Association, he posed as a Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
moderate and briefly won control of Newham North East
Newham North East (UK Parliament constituency)
Newham North East was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, in the London Borough of Newham...
Constituency Labour Party, in an unsuccessful attempt to reverse the deselection of the local MP, Reg Prentice
Reginald Prentice
Reginald Ernest Prentice, Baron Prentice, PC was a British politician who held ministerial office in both Labour and Conservative Party governments...
. Prentice himself eventually joined the Conservatives.
Pressure Group Campaigns and Political Research
Dr Lewis was a leading opponent of the Campaign for Nuclear DisarmamentCampaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
, and other Left-wing organisations, throughout the 1980s. From 1981-5, he was Research Director of the Coalition for Peace through Security
Coalition for Peace through Security
The Coalition for Peace Through Security was a campaigning group founded in September 1981 and active in the UK throughout the early and mid-1980s...
. From 1985, he has been Director of Policy Research Associates. In Parliament, he actively pursues the retention and renewal of the British strategic nuclear deterrent, the UK Trident programme
UK Trident programme
The UK Trident programme is the United Kingdom's Trident missile-based nuclear weapons programme. Under the programme, the Royal Navy operates 58 nuclear-armed Trident II D-5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and around 200 nuclear warheads on 4 Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines from...
.
With fellow Conservative John Bercow
John Bercow
John Simon Bercow is a British politician who has been the Speaker of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom since June 2009. Prior to his election to Speaker he was a member of the Conservative party....
- later elected Speaker of the House of Commons - he ran an Advanced Speaking and Campaigning course for more than ten years, which trained over 600 Conservatives (including several current MPs) in campaigning and communication techniques.
From 1990 to 1996, he was a Deputy Director of the Research Department at Conservative Central Office, but resigned to campaign against Britain joining the single European currency before opposition to the euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
was officially adopted by the Conservative Party.
Military Writings
A second edition of his book Changing Direction: British Military Planning for Post-war Strategic Defence, 1942-1947 was published in 2003 and a university paperback edition in 2008. His essay on "Nuclear Disarmament versus Peace in the 21st Century" won the Trench Gascoigne Prize of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in 2005. Two years later, he was awarded this prize for a second time, with an essay entitled "Double-I, Double-N: A Framework for Counter-Insurgency". His 10,000-word dissertation on "The Future of the British Nuclear Deterrent" was selected for an award and for publication as a Seaford House Paper by the Royal College of Defence Studies of which he was a Parliamentary member in 2006. His most recent book, published in 2011, is a military biography Racing Ace - The Fights and Flights of 'Kink' Kinkead DSO DSC* DFC*, published in 2011.Parliamentary career
He contested Swansea West (UK Parliament constituency)Swansea West (UK Parliament constituency)
Swansea West is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
at the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
.
As MP for New Forest East, he successfully opposed the development of a large container port at Dibden Bay, between Marchwood
Marchwood
Marchwood is a village and civil parish located in Hampshire, United Kingdom. It lies between Totton and Hythe on the western shore of Southampton Water, next to the New Forest. The population of the village in the 2001 census was 5,586.-History:...
and Hythe
Hythe, Hampshire
Hythe is a village near Southampton, Hampshire, England. It is located by the shore of Southampton Water, and has a ferry service connecting it to Southampton...
, and waged other high-profile local campaigns. In Parliament, he was a Shadow Defence Minister from 2002 to 2004 and from 2005 to 2010, also serving as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2004 to 2005, and as an Opposition Whip from 2001 to 2002. Before joining the Front Bench, he was a Member of the Defence Select Committee and the Welsh Select Committee, and had also been elected to the Executive of the Conservative Party's 1922 Committee.
With the creation of the Liberal-Conservative Coalition as a result of the election of a hung parliament
Hung parliament
In a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...
in 2010, the post which he had shadowed (Minister for the Armed Forces) was allocated to the Liberal Democrat Defence spokesman, Nick Harvey MP. Dr Lewis was appointed as a member of Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee in September 2010. He is a Vice-Chairman of Conservative Friends of Poland.
He has been described by the Daily Telegraph as "one of the most vigorous rightwingers
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
in the Commons" and by The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
as the Conservative Party's "front bench terrier".
Neo-Nazis at the Oxford Union
In November 2007 Julian Lewis resigned his life membership of the Oxford Union debating society, after 37 years, in protest at its decision to invite a Holocaust denier and the then leader of the British National Party to be speakers at one of its events.MPs' Home Addresses
From May to July 2008, Dr Lewis initiated and organised the successful campaign to change the Freedom of Information Act in order that a High Court ruling, obtained by a journalist on the Sunday TelegraphSunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
, that 14 MPs' home addresses should be published, could never be repeated in respect of any other Parliamentarians. More than 250 backbenchers from all parties, as well as members of the Government and the Shadow Cabinet, supported this campaign.
In March 2009, his amendment to the Political Parties and Elections Bill was carried by a majority of 59. It removed the requirement for General Election candidates to disclose their home addresses on nomination and ballot papers, and was upheld by a majority of 72 when the Bill went through the House of Lords in July 2009.
In both Houses, Labour and Conservatives were granted Free Votes on the 'Lewis Amendment', and Liberal Democrats were whipped to vote against it.
Expenses
In May 2009, the Sunday TelegraphSunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
alleged that Dr Lewis had tried to claim the £6,000 cost of a wooden floor in his second home, but he maintained that: “At no stage did I claim for the flooring and it did not cost the taxpayer a penny”. A senior Commons official confirmed that, by seeking advice in advance about second home expenditure, he had acted "in accordance with best practice as recommended by this department" and that "it is not true that you attempted to claim £6000 in expenses for a wooden floor at your second home". At the end of June 2009, Dr Lewis was informed by the Conservative Party's Scrutiny Panel, after examination of his expenses claims, that "we do not require you to answer any queries about them and there is no requirement for any repayments to be made", and the Daily Telegraphs subsequent book entitled No Expenses Spared made no reference to any which Dr Lewis had claimed.
Gay Rights Issues
In April 2010, Dr. Lewis was asked why he had opposed lowering the age of consent for homosexual relationships, eleven years earlier, in 1999. He stated that this had been because of his belief that the decision to incur any extra risk of contracting HIV should be taken on reaching the current age of majority, namely 18. He added that he had twice voted voluntarily in favour of the Civil Partnership Bill in 2004.Student Tuition Fees
In December 2010, Julian Lewis attacked and voted against Coalition proposals to increase student tuition fees from a maximum of £3,000 to a maximum of £9,000 per year, on the grounds that this would deter the less well-off from going to university.Privatisation of the Forest Estate
In 2011, he strongly opposed and was one of three Conservative MPs who voted against Coalition plans to transfer heritage forests from public ownership to trusts. The plans were later disowned by the Government and abandoned.Voting record
The following is a brief summary of Julian Lewis's voting record on high-profile issues:Bills voted for
- Civil Partnership Bill
- Military action against IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
- Replacing TridentUK Trident programmeThe UK Trident programme is the United Kingdom's Trident missile-based nuclear weapons programme. Under the programme, the Royal Navy operates 58 nuclear-armed Trident II D-5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and around 200 nuclear warheads on 4 Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines from...
Bills voted against
- Ban on fox huntingFox huntingFox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...
- Reduction of the age of consentAge of consentWhile the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
for gay men to 16 - AdoptionAdoptionAdoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
rights for unmarried and gay couples - Introduction of compulsory identity cards
- Removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords
- Increasing student tuition fees from a maximum of £3,000 to a maximum of £9,000 per year
- Transfer of forests to private ownership or trusts
External links
- Dr Julian Lewis MP official site
- Dr Julian Lewis MP biography at the site of the Conservative Party
- ePolitix.com - Julian Lewis
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Julian Lewis MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Julian Lewis MP
- The Public Whip - Julian Lewis MP voting record