Julian Lewis

Biography:

Julian Lewis was re-elected MP for New Forest East on May 7th 2015 with 27819 votes, taking 56.3% of the vote.

Julian is the Conservative MP for New Forest East and between 2002 and 2004 he has been the Shadow Defence Minister with responsibility for the Royal Navy. From September 2004 until May 2005 he served as the Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, undertaking special projects in the run-up to the General Election.

He read Philosophy and Politics at Oxford before specialising in Strategic Studies. He was awarded his doctorate in 1981 and a book based on his research, Changing Direction: British Military Planning for Post-war Strategic Defence 1942-47, was published in 1988. A second edition, based on newly-declassified archives, was published by Frank Cass in March 2003.

In the late 1970s, Julian waged a campaign to expose the activities of Trotskyist Militants in the Labour Party – a decade before they were eventually expelled.

Between 1981 and 1985, he was a leader of the anti-CND campaigns waged by The Coalition for Peace Through Security, and by the Conservative Party. He briefed many politicians during the nuclear weapons debate and was Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Swansea West in 1983.

In 1985, he became Director of the political consultancy Policy Research Associates, which successfully campaigned for changes in the law on Educational Indoctrination, Media Bias, Propaganda on the Rates, and Trade Union Democracy.

Four years later, Julian Lewis and John Bercow – later MP for Buckingham, and a member of the Shadow Cabinet – began a series of Advanced Speaking and Campaigning Courses for Conservative activists. Over 60 of these were held in Conservative Central Office and elsewhere, including several in Eastern Europe and the United States.

Julian was appointed Deputy Director of the Conservative Research Department in February 1990 and Director of the CCO Media Monitoring Unit in 1995. His role in forcing the Labour Opposition to retreat from its one-sided nuclear disarmament policy was publicly acknowledged in July 1991.

In February 1996, he was selected from 179 applicants to be prospective Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for the new seat of New Forest East. He was elected to Parliament in May 1997, re-elected in June 2001 and again in May 2005 – with a substantially increased majority.

Julian served for four years as Secretary of the Conservative Parliamentary Defence Committee. He has taken part in the 1998, 2000 and 2004 Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme with the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.

In February 2000 Julian was appointed as one of the three Conservative Members of the Select Committee on Defence. The following month he was elected Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee and European Affairs Committee, in succession to the late Michael Colvin. He stepped down from these posts on joining the front bench in September 2001 as an Opposition Whip.

He was promoted in November 2002 to become a Shadow Defence Minister, specialising in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, nuclear deterrent and other strategic issues. During his time as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, in the months leading up to the 2005 General Election, he repeatedly tackled Labour’s Alan Milburn at the Dispatch Box and took the lead in countering Government abuses of the new Freedom of Information legislation.

Constituency: New Forest East

Constituency Address: New Forest East Conservative Association, 3 The Parade, Southampton Road, Cadnam, Hampshire SO40 2NG

Constituency Tel: 023 8081 4817

Date of Birth: 26 September 1951

Party: Conservative

Personal Website: http://www.julianlewis.net/

Westminster Address: House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA

Westminster Tel: 023 8081 4817

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Julian-Lewis/1437468166521109