Julian Murray Lewis (born 26 September 1951) is a British politician and Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for New Forest East in Hampshire since the 1997 general election.
Born in Swansea, Wales, Lewis went to Dynevor Grammar School, Swansea. At Balliol College, Oxford, he received an MA in Philosophy and Politics in 1977, then a DPhil in Strategic Studies in 1981 from St Antony's College, Oxford.
He was a leading opponent of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, 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. 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.
A second edition of his book Changing Direction: British Military Planning for Post-war Strategic Defence, 1942-1947, was published in 2003 (ISBN 0714653993), and two years later his essay on Nuclear Disarmament versus Peace in the 21st Centurywon the Trench Gascoigne Prize of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.In 2007, he was awarded this prize for a second time, with an essay entitled Double-I, Double-N: A Framework for Counter-Insurgency.
From May to July 2008, he initiated and organised the successful campaign to change the Freedom of Information Act in order that a High Court ruling, 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.
He contested Swansea West at the 1983 general election. Locally, he successfully opposed the development of a large container port at Dibden Bay, between Marchwood and Hythe. In Parliament, he currently holds the position of Shadow Defence Minister, having previously served as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and Opposition Whip.
He has been described by Quentin Letts of the Daily Telegraph as "one of the most vigorous rightwingers in the Commons" and by David Hencke of The Guardian as the Conservative Party's "front bench terrier".
He lives in Cadnam.
The following is a brief summary of Lewis' voting record on high-profile issues:
