Brandon Lewis
Brandon Kenneth Lewis (born June 1971) is the Conservative Party Parliamentry Candidate for Great Yarmouth, England.
Early life
Brandon Lewis was born in 1971 in Harold Wood, United Kingdom. He received a degree in Economics from the University of Buckingham and further law degrees from Buckingham and 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 completed the London Marathon in 2005 and again in 2008 [1].
Local government
Brandon Lewis became a Borough Councillor in May 1998 for Hutton South on Brentwood Borough Council, and became Conservative Group leader in 2002. The Conservatives took control of Brentwood Borough Council in May 2004 following 12 years of Liberal Democrat control taking the total number of council of Conservative Councillors to 21. As a result Brandon was elected Leader of the Council on June 23 2004.
He was re-elected to the Council in the May 2006 local elections and continued as Council Leader, increasing the Conservative majority from 8 to 20 in that election, including taking the seats of the then Liberal Democrat Group Leader and Deputy Leader and the sitting Mayor. He was Chairman of the Essex 2005/6 Local Government Association [2].
On March 18 2009 nearly five years since becoming Council Leader Brandon announced his decision to resign as COuncil Leader to ensure that he could give move time, energy and focus to Great Yarmouth. Brandon recieved great praise from members of oppostion parties who remarked on his "oustanding" leadership and in the fact they he was the "best Council Leader for 30 years". He leaves with the Conservatives holding 28 out of 37 Council seats.
Parliamentary career
Brandon stood as the Conservative Parliamentry Candidate for Sherwood in the 2001 general election, achieving a swing of 4.7% to the Conservatives. The re-elected Labour MP Paddy Tipping blamed the fall in his majority on 'a fall in voter turn-out' [3].
In the 2005 general election Lewis was Campaign Manager for Eric Pickles in the Brentwood and Ongar constituency. Pickles more than recovered the ground he had lost at the previous election to Martin Bell who had challenged him as an Independent, and the Conservative share of the vote increased from 37% to 53%.
Lewis was placed on the 'A-List' of Conservative Party candidates ahead of the next general election, and has been selected as the Conservative candidate for Great Yarmouth for the General Election expected in 2009/2010 [4].