Clive Lewis (politician)

Clive Lewis
MP
Shadow Minister For Energy and Climate Change
Assumed office
18 September 2015
Leader Jeremy Corbyn
Member of Parliament
for Norwich South
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded by Simon Wright
Majority 7,654 (15.8%)
Personal details
Born (1971-09-11) 11 September 1971
London, United Kingdom
Political party Labour
Alma mater University of Bradford
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Military service
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch Territorial Army
Years of service 2006–2009
Unit 7th Rifles

Clive Anthony Lewis[1] (born 11 September 1971) is an English Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South since winning the seat at the 2015 general election from the sitting Liberal Democrat Simon Wright.[2]

Lewis was born in London but grew up on a council estate in Northampton. He studied economics at the University of Bradford before being elected to various student union roles and then serving as Vice President of the National Union of Students. Lewis then worked as a TV reporter for BBC News, becoming BBC Look East's chief political correspondent. He was also one of the Labour government's National Black Role Models. In 2006, he passed out of Sandhurst as an infantry officer with the Territorial Army, and he served a three month tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2009.

Selected as a candidate for Norwich South in 2011, Lewis often broke the party line on issues including nuclear weapons, tuition fees and immigration. Describing himself as a "proud socialist", he was elected by a comfortable margin as a MP for Norwich South. He was subsequently appointed as the Chair of the Humanist APPG. During the 2015 Labour leadership election, he was one of 36 MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn, and remains a strong supporter of him. He is currently a shadow energy minister on the Labour Party frontbench.

Early life and education

Born in London, Lewis grew up on a council estate in Northampton, Northamptonshire, the son of a single father. He was the first member of his family to attend university, reading economics at the University of Bradford before being elected student union president, and eventually Vice President of the National Union of Students.[3]

Professional career

Before being elected to the House of Commons he was a BBC News TV reporter for more than a decade beginning as a BBC News trainee, eventually becoming the chief political reporter of BBC Look East.[4] He is an associate governor of Thorpe St Andrew School and was one of the previous Labour Government's National Black Role Models, working with young people across Britain.[3]

Lewis joined the Territorial Army, passing out of Sandhurst Military Academy in 2006 as an infantry officer with 7 Rifles. In 2009, he served a three month tour of duty in Afghanistan.[5] Shortly after returning from his tour of duty, he faced depression, saying "I just felt like I was being crushed by it all." However, after receiving counselling from the Ministry of Defence, Lewis recovered.[6]

Parliamentary career

Lewis was selected as the Labour Party's Prospective parliamentary candidate for Norwich South at the party's hustings in November 2011, defeating challengers including former Blur drummer Dave Rowntree. Norwich South had been won by Liberal Democrat Simon Wright in the 2010 general election by a margin of just over 300 votes, defeating former Home Secretary and Education Secretary Charles Clarke.[7]

As a candidate, Lewis often broke from the party line on issues such as nuclear weapons,[8] tuition fees and immigration.[9] Locally, Lewis supported the campaign to prevent Hewett School, a comprehensive school in Norwich, from being turned into an academy.[10] He describes himself as a "proud socialist"[11] and is a member of three trade unions (Unite, GMB and the National Union of Journalists).[12]

In April 2015, Lewis made controversial comments when, in an interview for the New Statesman, he said (in jest), in response to a question on whether he was taking his upcoming victory for granted, he would only lose if he was "caught with [his] pants down behind a goat with Ed Miliband at the other end". He subsequently apologised for the remark, saying he was "sincerely sorry" if anyone had been offended by the comment.[13]

On 7 May 2015, Lewis was elected MP for Norwich South, winning 19,033 votes, 39.3% of the total vote, giving him a 15.8% majority of 7,654.[2] Lewis, in his victory speech, declared New Labour to be "dead and buried" and promised to stand up for Norwich’s most vulnerable against an "onslaught of cuts" by the Conservative Party.[14]

In June, Lewis was elected Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, a group which represents humanists in Parliament.[15] Lewis was also announced as the new patron of the Anti Academies Alliance.[16]

Lewis was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015.[17] Corbyn credited Lewis with getting his nominations "off the ground".[18] Following Corbyn's election as leader on 12 September 2015, Lewis said: "There is going to be a big realisation that the party needs to pull together, there were people in the room who weren’t happy, some people are in shock, some are upset but I know that Jeremy will be magnanimous, inclusive and conciliatory."[19] Lewis has been described as an "ally" of Corbyn, and one of his "early backers".[20]

It was suggested that Lewis could serve as either Shadow Secretary of State for Defence or as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in a Jeremy Corbyn-led shadow cabinet.[21][18][22][23] It has also been suggested that Lewis could succeed Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party, although Lewis has said of the suggestion: "Personally, I think it’s the political kiss of death".[24] However, following the result of the leadership election, when asked about the possibility of his being in the shadow cabinet, Lewis said: "I don’t want to do that at this moment – I think we need the ability and experience and he [Corbyn] has to reach out, it must be from all parts of the party".[25]

After wide speculation on the position that Lewis could hold, on 18 September 2015, Lewis was appointed to the Labour frontbench as a shadow minister in the Energy and Climate Change team.[26]

References

  1. ↑ "Election results for the General election 2015 in Norwich South". Norwich City Council.
  2. 1 2 "Norwich South Parliamentary constituency". BBC. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  3. 1 2 "About Clive". Clive Lewis, Labour's Candidate for Norwich South.
  4. ↑ "Clive Lewis". labour.org.uk.
  5. ↑ Lewis, Clive. "Why the Military?". Clive Lewis. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "BBC journalist battles Afghanistan depression". BBC News. 9 February 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "TV reporter picked as Labour’s candidate for Norwich South". Norwich Evening News.
  8. ↑ "Why Labour should make the case against Trident renewal". newstatesman.com.
  9. ↑ "Concrete / Interview: Clive Lewis - Concrete". Concrete.
  10. ↑ Dan Grimmer. "Decision on Norwich’s Hewett School should be local, says shadow chancellor Ed Balls". Eastern Daily Press.
  11. ↑ "Clive Lewis". twitter.com.
  12. ↑ "Labour candidate Clive Lewis urges unions to use Press law to silence critical newspapers - Daily Mail Online". Mail Online.
  13. ↑ "Norwich South Labour candidate sorry for Ed Miliband goat joke". BBC News.
  14. ↑ Kim Briscoe. "Norwich’s newest MP Clive Lewis vows to speak out for the city as he declares ‘New Labour is dead and buried and it needs to stay that way’". Eastern Daily Press.
  15. ↑ "Clive Lewis elected Chair of All Party Parliamentary Humanist Group". British Humanist Association. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  16. ↑ "Clive Lewis MP announced as new patron of the Anti-Academies Alliance". Anti Academies Alliance. 3 July 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  17. ↑ http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/06/who-nominated-who-2015-labour-leadership-election
  18. 1 2 "Who’s who in Team Corbyn". New Statesman. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  19. ↑ Pickard, Jim (13 September 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn begins task of appointing UK shadow cabinet". Financial Times. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  20. ↑ Watson, Iain (13 September 2015). "Who are Jeremy Corbyn's main allies in the Labour Party?". BBC News. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  21. ↑ Sharpe, Dylan (12 September 2015). "Is this what Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet will look like?". Sun Nation. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  22. ↑ Boffey, Daniel (15 August 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn’s world: his friends, supporters, mentors and influences". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  23. ↑ Ridge, Sophy (12 September 2015). "Five Biggest Corbyn Rumours In Westminster". Sky News. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  24. ↑ Eaton, George (19 August 2015). "Can Jeremy Corbyn and Labour MPs learn to get along?". New Statesman. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  25. ↑ Dathan, Matt (12 September 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn: New Labour leader aiming to appoint cabinet as early as 14 September". The Independent. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  26. ↑ "Clive Lewis appointed to Labour frontbench". ITV News. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Simon Wright		 Member of Parliament
for Norwich South
2015–present 		Incumbent
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