Brandon Lewis

Brandon Lewis MP
Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Tony Wright
Majority	4,276 (9.9%)
Personal details
Born	20 June 1971 Harold Wood, London, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative Party
Children	2
Residence	Great Yarmouth
Alma mater	University of Buckingham King's College London
Profession	Politician

Brandon Kenneth Lewis (born 20 June 1971) is the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth. He was elected at the 2010 general election.

Early life

Brandon Lewis was born on 20 June 1971 in Harold Wood, and educated at Forest School. He received a degree in economics from the University of Buckingham, an LLB in Law from Buckingham, and an LLM with Merit from King's College London. He was called to the bar by the Inner Temple and is a qualified barrister and is a company director.

He spent time in his childhood in Great Yarmouth because of his father's work commitments, who owned a local confectionary business. He would later stand as the Conservative Prospective Member of Parliament for the town.

Local government

Brandon Lewis became a Borough Councillor in May 1998 for Hutton South on Brentwood Borough Council, and later became Conservative Group leader in 2002.

Under Brandon's leadership the Conservatives took control of Brentwood Borough Council in June 2004 following 12 years of Liberal Democrat control, in doing so he took the total number of Conservative councillors from 8 to 21. As a result Brandon, as leader of the largest political group was elected Leader of the Council on 23 June 2004.

During his time as Leader he also co-hosted The Eric and Brandon Show with Eric Pickles MP on Phoenix FM, a local radio station in Brentwood.

He remained on the council in the May 2006 local elections and continued as council leader, increasing the Conservative majority from 8 to 20 (28 members in total) in that election. Taking the seats of the Liberal Democrat group leader and deputy leader and the sitting mayor.

He was chairman 2005/6 of the Essex Local Government Association.

On 18 March 2009, nearly five years since becoming leader of the council, Brandon announced his decision to step down from that position. He also resigned as a Borough Councillor ahead of the 2009 local elections in England.

Political career

Brandon is the Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth. Since his election he has become a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, as well as the Regulatory Reform Committee.

Brandon is Chairman of the Local Growth APPG including Enterprise Zones, Co Chair of the Coastal Erosion APPG and an officer and member of a range of other APPGs linked to business and economic growth.

He was selected as the Conservative candidate for Great Yarmouth for the 2010 general election in 2006. Since being in Great Yarmouth Brandon launched several local campaigns. He has also supported many local community groups and various campaigns, including the campaign to improve Great Yarmouth Train station, a Fair Fares campaign and one to Save Fritton Woods, among others.

Brandon secured the election victory in Great Yarmouth with a majority of 4,276 votes a swing to the Conservatives of over 9%.

Brandon previously stood as the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Sherwood in the 2001 general election, achieving a swing of 5.0% to the Conservatives.

External links

• Brandon Lewis' website
• Great Yarmouth Conservatives

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Tony Wright	Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth 2010–	Incumbent