Sir Kenneth Lewis (1 July 1916 – 2 July 1997) was a

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician in the

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. He was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

of the United Kingdom for Rutland and Stamford from 1959 to 1983, and following boundary changes for Stamford and Spalding from 1983 to 1987.

Life

Son of Agnes and William Lewis, Kenneth Lewis was born and educated in

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. It is home to the southern portal of the Tyne ...

, County Durham, and attended the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. He was a Labour and Personnel Executive with shipbuilders

Hawthorn Leslie and Company R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilder and locomotive manufacturer. The company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982. History The company was formed ...

Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the south ...

, and afterwards with the

County of London Electricity Supply Company The County of London Electric Supply Company Limited (C.L.E.S.Co) was a British electricity undertaking. It was incorporated as a public company in 1891 to generate and supply electricity to parts of south west London and two parishes adjacent t ...

. He served with the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during

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as a staff officer at Allied HQ Europe, the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

, and with a

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Squadron. He started his own shipping and travel business. He married Jean Lewis in 1948, and together they had two children: Kaye Michie and Christopher Lewis. He lived in Preston, near Uppingham, Rutland. From 1949 to 1952 he was a member of

Middlesex County Council Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965. The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the coun ...

, and contested Parliamentary elections as Conservative candidate in 1945 and 1950 at

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, and at

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

in 1951. His Parliamentary career included Chairmanship of the Conservative Party Parliamentary Labour Committee from 1962 to 1964, and he served on the Estimates, Expenditure and Selection Committees. He was Chairman of the East Midlands Conservative Members and Candidates Committee and the Area Conservative Political Centre. Lewis was noted for his remembrance speeches. In February 1984 he spoke in the

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against the ban on Trades Union representation at

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, urging the government to show more recognition of the needs of workers for representation, and joined former prime minister

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conserv ...

in abstaining on the vote. Lewis was an active churchman, and served as chairman of a Standing Committee of the

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. He was also deputy lieutenant of

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

(1973). Kenneth Lewis was knighted in 1983. Jean Lewis died in 1991, and Lewis died on 2 July 1997, aged 81. His son Christopher Lewis was elected to

Torbay Council Torbay Council is the local authority of Torbay in Devon, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Council Ta ...

in 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Kenneth 1916 births 1997 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Royal Air Force officers Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987