Ivan Lewis

Ivan was elected to Parliament in 1997 at the age of 30 and represents the constituency where he has lived all his life.

Prior to becoming an MP he was Chief Executive of two voluntary organisations – Contact Community Care Group and the Manchester Jewish Federation – for a total of eleven years and served as a Bury Councillor for eight years.

In October 2010 Ivan was elected to Labour’s Shadow Cabinet and served as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.


In October 2011 Ed Miliband appointed him Shadow Secretary of State for International Development. During Ivan’s period as a DfID Minister for Africa between 2008 and 2009 he worked to secure global support for an intensive focus on maternal health and led work within DfID on how the UK could work more effectively with other donors and multilateral organisations to make a sustainable difference in fragile states.


In October 2013 Ivan was appointed as the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.