Talk:Martin Lewis (financial journalist)

Updating Martin's page (paid editor)

I am a paid consultant acting upon Martin Lewis' behalf.

I would like to overhaul his page completely as it is very out of date and contains several inaccuracies.

Request for change

What I think should be changed (include citations): Martin Steven Lewis CBE (born 9 May 1972) is an English award-winning campaigning journalist, broadcaster, author and charity founder. Lewis founded the website MoneySavingExpert.com, the UK's largest consumer help website, in 2003. He still serves as its executive chair and oversees the site and the MSE weekly email. Since 2012 Lewis has presented The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, a prime-time programme dedicated to providing the latest money saving info and techniques to viewers. He also presents the Martin Lewis Podcast on BBC Sounds. He is currently a main presenter for ITV, on the morning shows Good Morning Britain and This Morning, as well as being resident expert on the shows. In 2016, he founded the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute charity, which he still chairs and funds, to research and advocate non-partisan practical policy change to break the toxic link between mental health issues and debt. Lewis is widely recognized for his campaigning journalism and is regarded as one of the most trusted people in the UK. The Financial Times referred to him as "the most successful journalist in the world, ever" (2015), The Guardian described him as "the most trusted man in Britain" (2019), and The Economist stated that he "has a good claim to be the most influential man in British politics" (2022). Additionally, a BBC One Politics survey in 2024 found that viewers identified him as the person they would most like to be Prime Minister, while The Big Issue headlined him as "the most influential man in Britain." ALL THESE ARE SOURCED IN MY BIOG He has spearheaded major financial justice campaigns, including reclaiming bank charges and PPI, helping consumers get over £10 billion back, and successfully lobbying to get financial education on the national curriculum, including providing over 300,000 free textbooks for state schools. In 2023, he was name checked in the budget as the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a reduction in future energy prices as a result of Lewis's advocacy, specifically stating, "After listening to representations from Martin Lewis and other experts, I today confirm that the Energy Price Guarantee will remain at £2,500 for the next three months." Early life and education Lewis was born at Withington Hospital in Manchester in 1972. His family lived in the Manchester suburb of Didsbury. While still a child he moved with his family to the village of Norley, near Delamere Forest in rural Cheshire, where his father was appointed headmaster of Delamere Forest School, a Jewish school for students with special educational needs. His mother Susan Lewis, died following a horse riding accident, involving a collision with a lorry, when he was aged 11. In later life he became a patron of the children's bereavement charity Grief Encounter. Lewis attended The King's School, an independent school in Chester. Lewis has remarked that as one of only two Jewish boys in his school he was given the nickname "Jew" by other pupils. He went on to read Government and Law at the London School of Economics. In 1997 became a postgraduate student in Broadcast Journalism at Cardiff University's Centre for Journalism Studies. Lewis has since been awarded honorary doctorates from the Open University, Chester University, and Leeds Beckett, in addition to receiving an honorary journalism fellowship from Cardiff University. Early career After graduating, Lewis served as the sabbatical general-secretary of the LSE Students' Union during the 1994-1995 academic year. During this time, he presented Mick Jagger with an award when the legendary musician became an honorary president. Lewis then went to work for two years in the City of London for the Brunswick Group, a financial communications consultancy. TV After leaving Brunswick to complete a full time post graduate diploma in broadcast journalism at Cardiff University, Lewis became a producer for the BBC Business Unit working on the BBC Radio Five Live business programmes and as an editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme business slot. Lewis then moved to satellite channel Simply Money, fronted by Angela Rippon and Jan Harvey where he cultivated his "Money Saving Expert" persona. From the outset, the channel suffered poor viewing figures and its main backer, Invest TV Resources, withdrew their support in March 2001. Almost all of its 51 staff, including Lewis, lost their jobs. After the collapse of Simply Money, Lewis began a "Deal of the Week" column in the Sunday Express. Lewis also presented "Money Saving Expert" slots on Channel 5's daytime show, Open House with Gloria Hunniford. Lewis returned to the BBC as a freelance business and personal finance reporter for, amongst others, BBC One Breakfast News. From 2003, Lewis started to work as an expert on ITV breakfast and daytime shows, including GMTV, Daybreak, Good Morning Britain, This Morning and Lorraine, soon becoming a regular part of the on screen ‘family’. He then presented money special editions for ITV's Tonight and has featured as a "Money Saving Expert" on several other programmes including BBC1 Watchdog. In 2005, Lewis got his own television programme on ITV daytime, Make Me Rich, where he conducted money makeovers directly in people's homes. Subsequently, in 2008, he hosted a prime-time program on Channel Five titled It Pays to Watch! With Martin Lewis, broadcast in an as-live format. Lewis is best known on TV for his prime-time ITV current affairs programme, The Martin Lewis Money Show, which has been airing since 2012. The original 30 minute show featured filmed segments on different topics, with up-to-date links to provide current information recorded in the week of transmission. After four series, it evolved to incorporate recorded segments from roadshows across the UK – with occasional one hour live specials. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the format further evolved into The Martin Lewis Money Show Live in 2020, initially as a one-off special but later becoming a regularly broadcast live series. In 2022 the show length was extended to an hour. It typically broadcasts October to March with odd specials at other times. The program usually ranks as the UK's most-watched current affairs show in the weeks it is on, according to Broadcast magazine. Since 2022, Lewis has become a contracted regular presenter of Good Morning Britain, though he only presents a limited number of shows. He is still the resident expert on financial matters on This Morning and in 2024 presented that main show for the first time. He has also presented other eponymous television programmes, such as Martin Lewis's Extreme Savers on ITV and Martin Lewis’ The Price of Fame on Channel 5, which delved into the business and brand aspects of celebrity. Radio and Podcast Lewis hosts a weekly segment titled the Martin Lewis Podcast on BBC Radio 5 Live, which has been running for over a decade, previously named The Consumer Team and Ask Martin. Since formally turning into a podcast it regularly ranks in the top 50 UK all-podcasts charts on Apple. In June 2020 Lewis was a guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. In December 2022, he appeared with LadBaby on their Christmas charity single, "Food Aid", a spoof of Band Aid's 1984 charity single Do They Know It's Christmas?. In July 2023, Lewis also appeared on the sports radio programme Test Match Special where he spoke with host Jonathan Agnew about his love of cricket and parallels between fair play in the game and fair play in the world of money. Columnist Lewis no longer writes regularly for any newspapers, but has previously been a regular columnist for various national newspapers, including The Mirror, Sunday Times, The Guardian and the Financial Times, and maintained a syndicated column across over 50 regional newspapers He is prolific on social media, with nearly 3 million followers on X, along with approximately 1 million followers on each of Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis founded MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) in his living room in 2003 with a total initial investment of £80. The website provides financial advice and money-saving tips. Emphasising ways to reduce expenses without compromising quality of life, the site experienced rapid growth and quickly became the UK's largest consumer website. The site now has over 16 million monthly users. Martin's Money Tips weekly email, which evolved into the MSE Money Tips email, played a pivotal role in the site's success, with over 14 million having signed up and a weekly reach of over eight million active email addresses. In September 2012 he sold the website to the Moneysupermarket.com group for up to £87m but remained editor-in-chief. The deal saw Lewis receive £35m cash up front in addition to 22.1m shares in Moneysupermarket.com and £27m in future payments. He simultaneously announced his intention to give £10m to charity, of which £1m would go to Citizens Advice. In July 2015 Lewis sold just over half his shareholding in Moneysupermarket.com, obtained in the sale of Money Saving Expert, for £25.2 million. Lewis’s initial pledge of £10m to charity in 2012 has since surpassed £20m. A significant portion of these funds has been directed to his charity the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI). Lewis has allocated £4.3m to MMHPI to date. Other notable contributions include £3.4m to the Martin Lewis Coronavirus Poverty Fund, offering urgent relief during the pandemic, as well as significant support for charities like Citizens Advice, the Trussell Trust, and financial education initiatives in schools. After the contractual period between Martin Lewis and the MoneySupermarket Group ended in 2015, Lewis had the option to depart as editor-in-chief of MSE, but both parties opted to continue their collaboration. As a result in 2016, Lewis transitioned from Editor-in-Chief to a permanent role as MSE's Executive Chair. In this capacity, as he sets the editorial line and oversees the site's operations, focusing on journalism, content quality, ethical standards, strategic direction, and innovation. Money and Mental Health Policy Institute In 2016, Martin Lewis founded and funded the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute to research and advocate non-partisan practical policy change to break the toxic link between mental health issues and debt. He continues to fund its core costs and is Chair of Trustees. This independent charity serves as a think tank (though Lewis refers to it as a do-tank) dedicated to researching and addressing the complex relationship between financial difficulties and mental health challenges. The charity's original director was former Liberal Democrat adviser Polly Mackenzie. It is now led by Helen Undy and has 21 full time staff. MMHPI focuses on studying and advocating for policies that alleviate the burden of debt and financial stress on individuals with mental health conditions. Through its research initiatives, the institute aims to identify practical solutions and interventions that empower individuals to manage their finances effectively while supporting their mental well-being. It has been responsible for pioneering gambling blocks on credit cards, the ending of charging for the mental health and debt evidence form, changes to debt threat letters, a substantial trial of interlinking debt advice within mental health counselling settings and many more. Campaigns Lewis is a regular campaigner on a range of issues within consumer finance, working with his teams at both MSE and MMHPI. Among some of the issues he’s campaigned are: Reclaiming Bank Charges Lewis's first campaign that was involved in bringing him to wider national attention was work in reclaiming bank charges. It began in the mid-2000s when he started educating consumers about the legality of excessive bank charges, such as unauthorised overdraft fees and bounced payment charges. Through Lewis’s advocacy efforts, via his website over six million of his template letters were downloaded, resulting in approximately £1 billion being refunded to consumers. He argued that these charges were often disproportionate to the actual costs incurred by banks and could disproportionately affect vulnerable individuals. He emphasised that many of these charges were potentially unfair and could be contested under consumer protection laws. Since the campaign, £30-a-go bank charges such as this type have been banned by the regulator. Financial Education Martin Lewis played a pivotal role in the successful campaign to introduce financial education into the national curriculum. His advocacy efforts were instrumental in driving policy changes that prioritised financial literacy within the educational system. Following the campaign, the Department for Education introduced reforms to incorporate financial education into the statutory national curriculum for secondary schools in England in 2014. This initiative mandated the teaching of financial literacy topics such as budgeting, debt management, savings, and investments as part of the Citizenship and Mathematics curriculum. In 2018, Lewis furthered his efforts by funding the creation of England's first curriculum-mapped financial education textbook through the Young Money charity. This groundbreaking initiative aimed to provide educators with comprehensive resources to teach financial literacy effectively in schools. Over 340,000 copies of the textbook were then distributed for free to every English state school – alongside specific teachers guides. Since then, Lewis has jointly funded, on a 50-50 basis with the Money & Pensions Service, new versions of the textbook mapped to the curriculums of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.</ref> Continuing his commitment to promoting financial literacy, Lewis remains involved with The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Financial Education for Young People, where he continues to advocate for improved financial education provision and policy reforms aimed at enhancing financial literacy among youth. Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) Reclaim Lewis’s work, in collaboration with his website, has facilitated the direct reclaiming of over £10 billion in mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Lewis played a pivotal role in raising awareness about mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) and assisting consumers in reclaiming millions of pounds in compensation. PPI was often sold alongside loans, credit cards, and mortgages purporting to cover repayments if the borrower fell ill, became unemployed, or faced other circumstances preventing repayment. However, it was frequently mis-sold to consumers who were ineligible to claim or unaware they had it. He began advocating for PPI reclaim in the early 2000s, highlighting the widespread mis-selling practices within the financial industry. Through his website MoneySavingExpert.com, Lewis provided comprehensive guides, and bespoke template letters (later replaced by a tool) to help consumers identify whether they had been mis-sold PPI and navigate the reclaim process. His campaigning efforts resulted in a surge of PPI claims, prompting banks and lenders to review their practices and compensate affected consumers. In total, over £38 billion has been repaid to consumers as of 2019, making it one of the largest consumer redress schemes in British history. Lewis's advocacy also led to regulatory changes, including stricter guidelines for selling financial products and improved consumer protection measures. Council Tax Reclaim Lewis's advocacy for Council Tax reclaiming has had a significant impact on households across Great Britain. When Martin first launched his council tax band check-and-challenge system back in 2007, it garnered widespread attention, making headlines in numerous newspapers. The Government's Valuation Office Agency website, which is a key part of the technique, crashed for a week under the traffic generated by Lewis's campaign. Lewis's advocacy for Council Tax reclaiming has impacted thousands of households across Great Britain, facilitating rebates or rebanding to ensure fairer taxation. Through his campaigning, Lewis provided practical guidance on how to check their Council Tax bands for accuracy and challenge discrepancies. As a result, 10,000s households have successfully received refunds or had their properties re-banded. Campaign Against Fake Scam Ads on Facebook Lewis launched a high-profile campaign against fake scam advertisements aiming to combat the proliferation of deceptive ads targeting vulnerable individuals. According to the National Cyber Security Centre he and Richard Branson are the most scammed faces in Britain, and in recent years this includes deep fake AI videos. Scam ads often featured Lewis's name and likeness without his consent, usually endorsing various fraudulent get rich schemes such as fake cryptocurrency investments. Lewis initiated legal proceedings against Facebook in the High Court, citing defamation resulting from the proliferation of over 1,000 scam advertisements misusing his name and image on the platform. The legal proceedings garnered significant media attention and put pressure on Facebook to address the issue. Following a 10-month legal battle, Lewis reached a settlement agreement with Facebook, marking a significant milestone in the fight against online scams. Instead of pursuing further legal action, Lewis agreed to drop the lawsuit on two conditions. First, that Facebook make a £3 million donation to fund a new Scams Action wing of the charity Citizens Advice. Secondly, Facebook launch a 'scam ads' reporting button (unique to the UK) allowing users to flag suspicious advertisements directly to the platform for review and removal. Facebook followed through and met both of these conditions. Lewis's campaign raised awareness about the prevalence of fake ads on social media but also prompted industry-wide discussions on improving ad transparency and user protection measures. Yet ultimately it didn’t stop the scams, the scam ads continued on Facebook and elsewhere. In 2022, Lewis initiated a campaign to lobby the government to include scam adverts in the Online Safety Act. Initially met with resistance, Lewis's campaign, supported by a coalition of charities, led to then Secretary of State for Culture Nadine Dorries agreeing to include scam adverts within the bill, which has since become law. Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) Lewis's campaign efforts in the summer of 2022 yielded a significant victory as the government decided to maintain the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) at £2,500 per year. This decision, announced ahead of the Budget, marked a crucial postponement of a planned 20% rise in typical household energy bills, which was initially set to take effect from 1 April. The move came after a month-long campaign led by Lewis, supported by 130 charities and consumer organisations including Which?, National Energy Action, Citizens Advice, Alzheimer's Society and more – plus Energy UK, the energy industry trade body. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt affirmed the decision stating in his budget speech "After listening to representations from Martin Lewis and other experts, I today confirm that the Energy Price Guarantee will remain at £2,500 for the next three months." Student Loan Advocacy In 2011, Lewis was appointed as the chair of the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information. The vice-chair was Wes Streeting, who is now the Shadow Secretary of State for Health. The taskforce, set up after urging from, but independent of, the coalition government, consisted of experts and stakeholders from the education and financial sectors, and was tasked with communicating the substantial changes being made to student finance to prospective students and their parents. Lewis has been a leading advocate for improving the UK's student loan system, aiming to make it fairer and more transparent. He has campaigned for clearer communication from the government regarding student loans, advocating for terminology that accurately reflects the nature of the financial arrangement. Lewis has provided extensive education and advice on student finance through various platforms, including his MoneySavingExpert website, television appearances, and written publications. He is cited frequently in the 2019 Augar report on student finance. Honours and recognition Lewis was honoured with a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for his contributions to broadcasting and consumer rights. Previously, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in June 2014 for his work in consumer rights and charity. In 2024, Lewis received the Special Recognition Award at the Broadcast Awards and the Royal Television Society Special Award for his groundbreaking impact on journalism. Lewis was recognised as a finalist for the National Television Awards Top Presenter Awards in 2023, losing to Ant & Dec, having previously won the inaugural Top Expert award in 2022. He was also honoured with the New Statesman's Positive Impact in Society award in the same year. Lewis has been distinguished with the Beacon Philanthropy Fellowship and has achieved notable recognition in various listings, including the Sunday Times Rich List, Charity Giving List and Alternative Rich List. Lewis’s accolades include being named Consumer Journalist of the Year, Trading Standards National Consumer Hero, Business Journalist of the Year, and Citizens Advice Consumer Champion. He was also voted Britain's 5th sexiest man in a poll in 2023, though it was won by Jeremy Clarkson. Lewis served as a governor and now holds the honorary position of emeritus governor at his alma mater, the London School of Economics (LSE). Personal life Lewis has a sister Debby and a half sister Talya. His father was Headmaster of a Special Educational Needs School in Norley, Cheshire. Lewis married former 5 News weather presenter now technology broadcaster and presenter of the BBC Click programme Lara Lewington on 31 May 2009. They have one daughter Sapphire Lewis. Lewis is Jewish and practises the Jewish faith. As of 2021 The Sunday Times Rich List estimates his net worth at £123 million. In 2016, Lewis fulfilled a lifelong ambition and started in-field presenting at major athletics events, including the Olympic trials and the London Anniversary Games, culminating in the London World Athletics Championships 2017 – where he got to run the 100 metres in front of 60,000 fans just before Usain Bolt. Lewis when talking about his Mental Health charity has said he 'has dark days,' that his roles cause him severe stress and that he does not manage stress well. Lewis is known for his commitment to maintaining an active lifestyle. In a blog post, he shared his journey of averaging over 25,000 steps a day in 2023 (following similar blogs in previous years). Lewis adheres to self-imposed rules, including a minimum daily step count, and integrates walking into his daily routine, often conducting meetings while on the move.

• Why it should be changed:

The page has not been updated with any of Martin's recent campaigns for a number of years, and contains a lot of outdated information.

• References supporting the possible change (format using the "cite" button):

Elliott Haworth (talk) 14:19, 7 June 2024 (UTC)

References

Update to page

Repeated content

As per my above request, I am a paid consultant acting upon Martin Lewis' behalf. I am seeking to overhaul his page as it is outdated and contains inaccuracies. I have rewritten the page copy and provided citations within Wiki's guidelines. I posted the above but have had no replies, so am requesting for help from an editor to get the below copy incorporated into Martin's page. Thanks, Elliott Haworth (talk) 09:53, 17 June 2024 (UTC) STARTS Martin Steven Lewis CBE (born 9 May 1972) is an English award-winning campaigning journalist, broadcaster, author and charity founder. Lewis founded the website MoneySavingExpert.com, the UK's largest consumer help website, in 2003. He still serves as its executive chair and oversees the site and the MSE weekly email. Since 2012 Lewis has presented The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, a prime-time programme dedicated to providing the latest money saving info and techniques to viewers. He also presents the Martin Lewis Podcast on BBC Sounds. He is currently a main presenter for ITV, on the morning shows Good Morning Britain and This Morning, as well as being resident expert on the shows. In 2016, he founded the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute charity, which he still chairs and funds, to research and advocate non-partisan practical policy change to break the toxic link between mental health issues and debt. Lewis is widely recognized for his campaigning journalism and is regarded as one of the most trusted people in the UK. The Financial Times referred to him as "the most successful journalist in the world, ever" (2015), The Guardian described him as "the most trusted man in Britain" (2019), and The Economist stated that he "has a good claim to be the most influential man in British politics" (2022). Additionally, a BBC One Politics survey in 2024 found that viewers identified him as the person they would most like to be Prime Minister, while The Big Issue headlined him as "the most influential man in Britain."  He has spearheaded major financial justice campaigns, including reclaiming bank charges and PPI, helping consumers get over £10 billion back, and successfully lobbying to get financial education on the national curriculum, including providing over 300,000 free textbooks for state schools. In 2023, he was name checked in the budget as the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a reduction in future energy prices as a result of Lewis's advocacy, specifically stating, "After listening to representations from Martin Lewis and other experts, I today confirm that the Energy Price Guarantee will remain at £2,500 for the next three months." Early life and education Lewis was born at Withington Hospital in Manchester in 1972. His family lived in the Manchester suburb of Didsbury. While still a child he moved with his family to the village of Norley, near Delamere Forest in rural Cheshire, where his father was appointed headmaster of Delamere Forest School, a Jewish school for students with special educational needs. His mother Susan Lewis, died following a horse riding accident, involving a collision with a lorry, when he was aged 11. In later life he became a patron of the children's bereavement charity Grief Encounter. Lewis attended The King's School, an independent school in Chester. Lewis has remarked that as one of only two Jewish boys in his school he was given the nickname "Jew" by other pupils. He went on to read Government and Law at the London School of Economics. In 1997 became a postgraduate student in Broadcast Journalism at Cardiff University's Centre for Journalism Studies. Lewis has since been awarded honorary doctorates from the Open University, Chester University, and Leeds Beckett, in addition to receiving an honorary journalism fellowship from Cardiff University. Early career After graduating, Lewis served as the sabbatical general-secretary of the LSE Students' Union during the 1994-1995 academic year. During this time, he presented Mick Jagger with an award when the legendary musician became an honorary president. Lewis then went to work for two years in the City of London for the Brunswick Group, a financial communications consultancy. TV After leaving Brunswick to complete a full time post graduate diploma in broadcast journalism at Cardiff University, Lewis became a producer for the BBC Business Unit working on the BBC Radio Five Live business programmes and as an editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme business slot. Lewis then moved to satellite channel Simply Money, fronted by Angela Rippon and Jan Harvey where he cultivated his "Money Saving Expert" persona. From the outset, the channel suffered poor viewing figures and its main backer, Invest TV Resources, withdrew their support in March 2001. Almost all of its 51 staff, including Lewis, lost their jobs. After the collapse of Simply Money, Lewis began a "Deal of the Week" column in the Sunday Express. Lewis also presented "Money Saving Expert" slots on Channel 5's daytime show, Open House with Gloria Hunniford. Lewis returned to the BBC as a freelance business and personal finance reporter for, amongst others, BBC One Breakfast News. From 2003, Lewis started to work as an expert on ITV breakfast and daytime shows, including GMTV, Daybreak, Good Morning Britain, This Morning and Lorraine, soon becoming a regular part of the on screen ‘family’. He then presented money special editions for ITV's Tonight and has featured as a "Money Saving Expert" on several other programmes including BBC1 Watchdog. In 2005, Lewis got his own television programme on ITV daytime, Make Me Rich, where he conducted money makeovers directly in people's homes. Subsequently, in 2008, he hosted a prime-time program on Channel Five titled It Pays to Watch! With Martin Lewis, broadcast in an as-live format. Lewis is best known on TV for his prime-time ITV current affairs programme, The Martin Lewis Money Show, which has been airing since 2012. The original 30 minute show featured filmed segments on different topics, with up-to-date links to provide current information recorded in the week of transmission. After four series, it evolved to incorporate recorded segments from roadshows across the UK – with occasional one hour live specials. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the format further evolved into The Martin Lewis Money Show Live in 2020, initially as a one-off special but later becoming a regularly broadcast live series. In 2022 the show length was extended to an hour.  It typically broadcasts October to March with odd specials at other times. The program usually ranks as the UK's most-watched current affairs show in the weeks it is on, according to Broadcast magazine. Since 2022, Lewis has become a contracted regular presenter of Good Morning Britain, though he only presents a limited number of shows. He is still the resident expert on financial matters on This Morning and in 2024 presented that main show for the first time. He has also presented other eponymous television programmes, such as Martin Lewis's Extreme Savers on ITV and Martin Lewis’ The Price of Fame on Channel 5, which delved into the business and brand aspects of celebrity. Radio and Podcast Lewis hosts a weekly segment titled the Martin Lewis Podcast on BBC Radio 5 Live, which has been running for over a decade, previously named The Consumer Team and Ask Martin. Since formally turning into a podcast it regularly ranks in the top 50 UK all-podcasts charts on Apple. In June 2020 Lewis was a guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. In December 2022, he appeared with LadBaby on their Christmas charity single, "Food Aid", a spoof of Band Aid's 1984 charity single Do They Know It's Christmas?. In July 2023, Lewis also appeared on the sports radio programme Test Match Special where he spoke with host Jonathan Agnew about his love of cricket and parallels between fair play in the game and fair play in the world of money. Columnist Lewis no longer writes regularly for any newspapers, but has previously been a regular columnist for various national newspapers, including The Mirror, Sunday Times, The Guardian and the Financial Times, and maintained a syndicated column across over 50 regional newspapers He is prolific on social media, with nearly 3 million followers on X, along with approximately 1 million followers on each of Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis founded MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) in his living room in 2003 with a total initial investment of £80. The website provides financial advice and money-saving tips. Emphasising ways to reduce expenses without compromising quality of life, the site experienced rapid growth and quickly became the UK's largest consumer website. The site now has over 16 million monthly users. Martin's Money Tips weekly email, which evolved into the MSE Money Tips email, played a pivotal role in the site's success, with over 14 million having signed up and a weekly reach of over eight million active email addresses. In September 2012 he sold the website to the Moneysupermarket.com group for up to £87m but remained editor-in-chief. The deal saw Lewis receive £35m cash up front in addition to 22.1m shares in Moneysupermarket.com and £27m in future payments. He simultaneously announced his intention to give £10m to charity, of which £1m would go to Citizens Advice. In July 2015 Lewis sold just over half his shareholding in Moneysupermarket.com, obtained in the sale of Money Saving Expert, for £25.2 million.   Lewis’s initial pledge of £10m to charity in 2012 has since surpassed £20m. A significant portion of these funds has been directed to his charity the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI). Lewis has allocated £4.3m to MMHPI to date. Other notable contributions include £3.4m to the Martin Lewis Coronavirus Poverty Fund, offering urgent relief during the pandemic, as well as significant support for charities like Citizens Advice, the Trussell Trust, and financial education initiatives in schools. After the contractual period between Martin Lewis and the MoneySupermarket Group ended in 2015, Lewis had the option to depart as editor-in-chief of MSE, but both parties opted to continue their collaboration. As a result in 2016, Lewis transitioned from Editor-in-Chief to a permanent role as MSE's Executive Chair. In this capacity, as he sets the editorial line and oversees the site's operations, focusing on journalism, content quality, ethical standards, strategic direction, and innovation. Money and Mental Health Policy Institute In 2016, Martin Lewis founded and funded the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute to research and advocate non-partisan practical policy change to break the toxic link between mental health issues and debt. He continues to fund its core costs and is Chair of Trustees. This independent charity serves as a think tank (though Lewis refers to it as a do-tank) dedicated to researching and addressing the complex relationship between financial difficulties and mental health challenges. The charity's original director was former Liberal Democrat adviser Polly Mackenzie. It is now led by Helen Undy and has 21 full time staff.  MMHPI focuses on studying and advocating for policies that alleviate the burden of debt and financial stress on individuals with mental health conditions. Through its research initiatives, the institute aims to identify practical solutions and interventions that empower individuals to manage their finances effectively while supporting their mental well-being. It has been responsible for pioneering gambling blocks on credit cards, the ending of charging for the mental health and debt evidence form, changes to debt threat letters, a substantial trial of interlinking debt advice within mental health counselling settings and many more. Campaigns Lewis is a regular campaigner on a range of issues within consumer finance, working with his teams at both MSE and MMHPI. Among some of the issues he’s campaigned are: Reclaiming Bank Charges Lewis's first campaign that was involved in bringing him to wider national attention was work in reclaiming bank charges. It  began in the mid-2000s when he started educating consumers about the legality of excessive bank charges, such as unauthorised overdraft fees and bounced payment charges. Through Lewis’s advocacy efforts, via his website over six million of his template letters  were downloaded, resulting in approximately £1 billion being refunded to consumers.  He argued that these charges were often disproportionate to the actual costs incurred by banks and could disproportionately affect vulnerable individuals. He emphasised that many of these charges were potentially unfair and could be contested under consumer protection laws.   Since the campaign, £30-a-go bank charges such as this type have been banned by the regulator. Financial Education Martin Lewis played a pivotal role in the successful campaign to introduce financial education into the national curriculum. His advocacy efforts were instrumental in driving policy changes that prioritised financial literacy within the educational system., Following the campaign, the Department for Education introduced reforms to incorporate financial education into the statutory national curriculum for secondary schools in England in 2014. This initiative mandated the teaching of financial literacy topics such as budgeting, debt management, savings, and investments as part of the Citizenship and Mathematics curriculum. In 2018, Lewis furthered his efforts by funding the creation of England's first curriculum-mapped financial education textbook through the Young Money charity. This groundbreaking initiative aimed to provide educators with comprehensive resources to teach financial literacy effectively in schools. Over 340,000 copies of the textbook were then distributed for free to every English state school – alongside specific teachers guides. Since then, Lewis has jointly funded, on a 50-50 basis with the Money & Pensions Service, new versions of the textbook mapped to the curriculums of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Continuing his commitment to promoting financial literacy, Lewis remains involved with The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Financial Education for Young People, where he continues to advocate for improved financial education provision and policy reforms aimed at enhancing financial literacy among youth. Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) Reclaim Lewis’s work, in collaboration with his website, has facilitated the direct reclaiming of over £10 billion in mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Lewis played a pivotal role in raising awareness about mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) and assisting consumers in reclaiming millions of pounds in compensation.  PPI was often sold alongside loans, credit cards, and mortgages purporting to cover repayments if the borrower fell ill, became unemployed, or faced other circumstances preventing repayment. However, it was frequently mis-sold to consumers who were ineligible to claim or unaware they had it. He began advocating for PPI reclaim in the early 2000s, highlighting the widespread mis-selling practices within the financial industry. Through his website MoneySavingExpert.com, Lewis provided comprehensive guides, and bespoke template letters (later replaced by a tool) to help consumers identify whether they had been mis-sold PPI and navigate the reclaim process. His campaigning efforts resulted in a surge of PPI claims, prompting banks and lenders to review their practices and compensate affected consumers. In total, over £38 billion has been repaid to consumers as of 2019, making it one of the largest consumer redress schemes in British history. Lewis's advocacy also led to regulatory changes, including stricter guidelines for selling financial products and improved consumer protection measures. Council Tax Reclaim Lewis's advocacy for Council Tax reclaiming has had a significant impact on households across Great Britain. When Martin first launched his council tax band check-and-challenge system back in 2007, it garnered widespread attention, making headlines in numerous newspapers.  The Government's Valuation Office Agency website, which is a key part of the technique, crashed for a week under the traffic generated by Lewis's campaign.   Lewis's  advocacy for Council Tax reclaiming has impacted thousands of households across Great Britain, facilitating rebates or rebanding to ensure fairer taxation. Through his campaigning, Lewis provided practical guidance on how to check their Council Tax bands for accuracy and challenge discrepancies. As a result, 10,000s households have successfully received refunds or had their properties re-banded. Campaign Against Fake Scam Ads on Facebook Lewis launched a high-profile campaign against fake scam advertisements aiming to combat the proliferation of deceptive ads targeting vulnerable individuals. According to the National Cyber Security Centre he and Richard Branson are the most scammed faces in Britain, and in recent years this includes deep fake AI videos. Scam ads often featured Lewis's name and likeness without his consent, usually endorsing various fraudulent get rich schemes such as fake cryptocurrency investments.   Lewis initiated legal proceedings against Facebook in the High Court, citing defamation resulting from the proliferation of over 1,000 scam advertisements misusing his name and image on the platform. The legal proceedings garnered significant media attention and put pressure on Facebook to address the issue. Following a 10-month legal battle, Lewis reached a settlement agreement with Facebook, marking a significant milestone in the fight against online scams.   Instead of pursuing further legal action, Lewis agreed to drop the lawsuit on two conditions. First, that Facebook make a £3 million donation to fund a new Scams Action wing of the charity Citizens Advice. Secondly, Facebook launch a 'scam ads' reporting button (unique to the UK) allowing users to flag suspicious advertisements directly to the platform for review and removal. Facebook followed through and met both of these conditions. Lewis's campaign raised awareness about the prevalence of fake ads on social media but also prompted industry-wide discussions on improving ad transparency and user protection measures. Yet ultimately it didn’t stop the scams, the scam ads continued on Facebook and elsewhere. In 2022, Lewis initiated a campaign to lobby the government to include scam adverts in the Online Safety Act. Initially met with resistance, Lewis's campaign, supported by a coalition of charities, led to then Secretary of State for Culture Nadine Dorries agreeing to include scam adverts within the bill, which has since become law. Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) Lewis's campaign efforts in the summer of 2022 yielded a significant victory as the government decided to maintain the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) at £2,500 per year. This decision, announced ahead of the Budget, marked a crucial postponement of a planned 20% rise in typical household energy bills, which was initially set to take effect from 1 April. The move came after a month-long campaign led by Lewis, supported by 130 charities and consumer organisations including Which?, National Energy Action, Citizens Advice, Alzheimer's Society and more – plus Energy UK, the energy industry trade body. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt affirmed the decision stating in his budget speech "After listening to representations from Martin Lewis and other experts, I today confirm that the Energy Price Guarantee will remain at £2,500 for the next three months." Student Loan Advocacy In 2011, Lewis was appointed as the chair of the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information.   The vice-chair was Wes Streeting, who is now the Shadow Secretary of State for Health. The task-force, set up after urging from, but independent of, the coalition government, consisted of experts and stakeholders from the education and financial sectors, and was tasked with communicating the substantial changes being made to student finance to prospective students and their parents. Lewis has been a leading advocate for improving the UK's student loan system, aiming to make it fairer and more transparent. He has campaigned for clearer communication from the government regarding student loans, advocating for terminology that accurately reflects the nature of the financial arrangement. Lewis has provided extensive education and advice on student finance through various platforms, including his MoneySavingExpert website, television appearances, and written publications. He is cited frequently in the 2019 Augar report on student finance. Honours and recognition Lewis was honoured with a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for his contributions to broadcasting and consumer rights. Previously, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in June 2014 for his work in consumer rights and charity. In 2024, Lewis received the Special Recognition Award at the Broadcast Awards and the Royal Television Society Special Award for his groundbreaking impact on journalism. Lewis was recognised as a finalist for the National Television Awards Top Presenter Awards in 2023, losing to Ant & Dec, having previously won the inaugural Top Expert award in 2022. He was also honoured with the New Statesman's Positive Impact in Society award in the same year. Lewis has been distinguished with the Beacon Philanthropy Fellowship and has achieved notable recognition in various listings, including the Sunday Times Rich List, Charity Giving List and Alternative Rich List. Lewis’s accolades include being named Consumer Journalist of the Year, Trading Standards National Consumer Hero, Business Journalist of the Year, and Citizens Advice Consumer Champion. He was also voted Britain's 5th sexiest man in a poll in 2023, though it was won by Jeremy Clarkson. Lewis served as a governor and now holds the honorary position of emeritus governor at his alma mater, the London School of Economics (LSE). Personal life Lewis has a sister Debby and a half sister Talya. His father was Headmaster of a Special Educational Needs School in Norley, Cheshire. Lewis married former 5 News weather presenter now technology broadcaster and presenter of the BBC Click programme Lara Lewington on 31 May 2009. They have one daughter Sapphire Lewis. Lewis is Jewish and practises the Jewish faith. As of 2021 The Sunday Times Rich List estimates his net worth at £123 million. In 2016, Lewis fulfilled a lifelong ambition and started in-field presenting at major athletics events, including the Olympic trials and the London Anniversary Games, culminating in the London World Athletics Championships 2017 – where he got to run the 100 metres in front of 60,000 fans just before Usain Bolt. Lewis when talking about his Mental Health charity has said he 'has dark days,' that his roles cause him severe stress and that he does not manage stress well. Lewis is known for his commitment to maintaining an active lifestyle. In a blog post, he shared his journey of averaging over 25,000 steps a day in 2023 (following similar blogs in previous years). Lewis adheres to self-imposed rules, including a minimum daily step count, and integrates walking into his daily routine, often conducting meetings while on the move. Elliott Haworth (talk) 09:53, 17 June 2024 (UTC)

Elliott Haworth please be patient. You edit request was received and does not need to be repeated. Sario528 (talk) 11:10, 17 June 2024 (UTC)

@Elliott Haworth:  Not done You may not cite moneysavingexpert.com since it is not an independent reliable source. In other words, a medium that was founded by the subject cannot be used as a source in the article because it is not independent of the subject, and therefore reliable. Please also review Wikipedia policy on Biographies of Living People. P,TO 19104 (talk) (contribs) 20:05, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

Hi – I have updated with external sources, is it possible that someone could take a look and get the page updated? Elliott Haworth (talk) 12:26, 9 December 2024 (UTC)

Update to pages: Reclaiming Bank Charges

Lewis's first campaign that was involved in bringing him to wider national attention was work in reclaiming bank charges. It  began in the mid-2000s when he started educating consumers about the legality of excessive bank charges, such as unauthorised overdraft fees and bounced payment charges.

Through Lewis’s advocacy efforts, via his website over six million of his template letters were downloaded, resulting in approximately £1 billion being refunded to consumers.

He argued that these charges were often disproportionate to the actual costs incurred by banks and could disproportionately affect vulnerable individuals. He emphasised that many of these charges were potentially unfair and could be contested under consumer protection laws.

Since the campaign, £30-a-go bank charges such as this type have been banned by the regulator.Elliott Haworth (talk) 13:58, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

References

Update to pages: Financial Education

Martin Lewis played a pivotal role in the successful campaign to introduce financial education into the national curriculum. His advocacy efforts were instrumental in driving policy changes that prioritised financial literacy within the educational system.

Following the campaign, the Department for Education introduced reforms to incorporate financial education into the statutory national curriculum for secondary schools in England in 2014. This initiative mandated the teaching of financial literacy topics such as budgeting, debt management, savings, and investments as part of the Citizenship and Mathematics curriculum.

In 2018, Lewis furthered his efforts by funding the creation of England's first curriculum-mapped financial education textbook through the Young Money charity. This groundbreaking initiative aimed to provide educators with comprehensive resources to teach financial literacy effectively in schools. Over 340,000 copies of the textbook were then distributed for free to every English state school – alongside specific teachers guides.

Since then, Lewis has jointly funded, on a 50-50 basis with the Money & Pensions Service, new versions of the textbook mapped to the curriculums of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Continuing his commitment to promoting financial literacy, Lewis remains involved with The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Financial Education for Young People, where he continues to advocate for improved financial education provision and policy reforms aimed at enhancing financial literacy among youth. Elliott Haworth (talk) 14:25, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

References

Update to pages: Payment protection insurance (PPI) reclaim

Lewis’s work, in collaboration with his website, has facilitated the direct reclaiming of over £10 billion in mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).

Lewis played a pivotal role in raising awareness about mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) and assisting consumers in reclaiming millions of pounds in compensation. PPI was often sold alongside loans, credit cards, and mortgages purporting to cover repayments if the borrower fell ill, became unemployed, or faced other circumstances preventing repayment. However, it was frequently mis-sold to consumers who were ineligible to claim or unaware they had it.

He began advocating for PPI reclaim in the early 2000s, highlighting the widespread mis-selling practices within the financial industry. Through his website MoneySavingExpert.com, Lewis provided comprehensive guides, and bespoke template letters (later replaced by a tool) to help consumers identify whether they had been mis-sold PPI and navigate the reclaim process.

His campaigning efforts resulted in a surge of PPI claims, prompting banks and lenders to review their practices and compensate affected consumers. In total, over £38 billion has been repaid to consumers as of 2019, making it one of the largest consumer redress schemes in British history.

Lewis's advocacy also led to regulatory changes, including stricter guidelines for selling financial products and improved consumer protection measures. Elliott Haworth (talk) 14:34, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

References

Update to Pages: Council tax reclaim

Lewis's advocacy for Council Tax reclaiming has had a significant impact on households across Great Britain. When Martin first launched his council tax band check-and-challenge system back in 2007, it garnered widespread attention, making headlines in numerous newspapers.

The Government's Valuation Office Agency website, which is a key part of the technique, crashed for a week under the traffic generated by Lewis's campaign.

Lewis's  advocacy for Council Tax reclaiming has impacted thousands of households across Great Britain, facilitating rebates or rebanding to ensure fairer taxation. Through his campaigning, Lewis provided practical guidance on how to check their Council Tax bands for accuracy and challenge discrepancies.

As a result, 10,000s households have successfully received refunds or had their properties re-banded. Elliott Haworth (talk) 14:40, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

References

Update to Pages: Campaign against fake scam ads on Facebook

Lewis launched a high-profile campaign against fake scam advertisements aiming to combat the proliferation of deceptive ads targeting vulnerable individuals. According to the National Cyber Security Centre he and Richard Branson are the most scammed faces in Britain, and in recent years this includes deep fake AI videos.

Scam ads often featured Lewis's name and likeness without his consent, usually endorsing various fraudulent get rich schemes such as fake cryptocurrency investments.

Lewis initiated legal proceedings against Facebook in the High Court, citing defamation resulting from the proliferation of over 1,000 scam advertisements misusing his name and image on the platform. The legal proceedings garnered significant media attention and put pressure on Facebook to address the issue.

Following a 10-month legal battle, Lewis reached a settlement agreement with Facebook, marking a significant milestone in the fight against online scams. Instead of pursuing further legal action, Lewis agreed to drop the lawsuit on two conditions. First, that Facebook make a £3 million donation to fund a new Scams Action wing of the charity Citizens Advice. Secondly, Facebook launch a 'scam ads' reporting button (unique to the UK) allowing users to flag suspicious advertisements directly to the platform for review and removal. Facebook followed through and met both of these conditions.

Lewis's campaign raised awareness about the prevalence of fake ads on social media but also prompted industry-wide discussions on improving ad transparency and user protection measures.

Yet ultimately it didn’t stop the scams, the scam ads continued on Facebook and elsewhere. In 2022, Lewis initiated a campaign to lobby the government to include scam adverts in the Online Safety Act. Initially met with resistance, Lewis's campaign, supported by a coalition of charities, led to then Secretary of State for Culture Nadine Dorries agreeing to include scam adverts within the bill, which has since become law. Elliott Haworth (talk) 14:43, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

References

Updates to pages: Energy price guarantee (EPG)

Lewis's campaign efforts in the summer of 2022 yielded a significant victory as the government decided to maintain the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) at £2,500 per year. This decision, announced ahead of the Budget, marked a crucial postponement of a planned 20% rise in typical household energy bills, which was initially set to take effect from 1 April. The move came after a month-long campaign led by Lewis, supported by 130 charities and consumer organisations including Which?, National Energy Action, Citizens Advice, Alzheimer's Society and more – plus Energy UK, the energy industry trade body.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt affirmed the decision stating in his budget speech "After listening to representations from Martin Lewis and other experts, I today confirm that the Energy Price Guarantee will remain at £2,500 for the next three months.", [User:Elliott Haworth|Elliott Haworth]] (talk) 14:50, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

References

Update to pages: Student loan advocacy

In 2011, Lewis was appointed as the chair of the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information. The vice-chair was Wes Streeting, who is now the Shadow Secretary of State for Health.

The taskforce, set up after urging from, but independent of, the coalition government, consisted of experts and stakeholders from the education and financial sectors, and was tasked with communicating the substantial changes being made to student finance to prospective students and their parents.

Lewis has been a leading advocate for improving the UK's student loan system, aiming to make it fairer and more transparent. He has campaigned for clearer communication from the government regarding student loans, advocating for terminology that accurately reflects the nature of the financial arrangement. Lewis has provided extensive education and advice on student finance through various platforms, including his MoneySavingExpert website, television appearances, and written publications. He is cited frequently in the 2019 Augar report on student finance. Elliott Haworth (talk) 15:10, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

References

Add A Fact: "Martin Lewis: Not a financial advisor"

I found a fact that might belong in this article. See the quote below

Lots of people think I’m a financial adviser; I’m not, I’m a broadcast journalist

The fact comes from the following source:

https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/martin-lewis-interview-not-a-financial-advisor-3434191

Here is a wikitext snippet to use as a reference:

 {{Cite web |title=Martin Lewis: 'People think I’m a financial adviser; I’m not' |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/martin-lewis-interview-not-a-financial-advisor-3434191 |website=The i Paper |date=2024-12-17 |access-date=2024-12-20 |language=en-US |first=Emily |last=Baker |quote=Lots of people think I’m a financial adviser; I’m not, I’m a broadcast journalist}} 

Additional comments from user: He does great work but for clarity need to be clear he is not a finiacial advisor

This post was generated using the Add A Fact browser extension.

Back ache (talk) 09:40, 20 December 2024 (UTC)

Add A Fact: "Creating a job around skills"

I found a fact that might belong in this article. See the quote below

Money-saving didn’t really exist as a discipline before. I created my job around what I’m good at, rather than finding a job where my skills fit.”

The fact comes from the following source:

https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/martin-lewis-interview-not-a-financial-advisor-3434191

Here is a wikitext snippet to use as a reference:

 {{Cite web |title=Martin Lewis: 'People think I’m a financial adviser; I’m not' |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/martin-lewis-interview-not-a-financial-advisor-3434191 |website=The i Paper |date=2024-12-17 |access-date=2024-12-20 |language=en-US |first=Emily |last=Baker |quote=Money-saving didn’t really exist as a discipline before. I created my job around what I’m good at, rather than finding a job where my skills fit.”}} 

Additional comments from user: helps explain why he does it

This post was generated using the Add A Fact browser extension.

Back ache (talk) 09:44, 20 December 2024 (UTC)

Add A Fact: "Martin Lewis on board games"

I found a fact that might belong in this article. See the quote below

His latest programme might be a step away from his usual money patch, but it still capitalises on his pre-existing skills. This time it’s his love of board games under the spotlight – specifically, winning them

The fact comes from the following source:

https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/martin-lewis-interview-not-a-financial-advisor-3434191

Here is a wikitext snippet to use as a reference:

 {{Cite web |title=Martin Lewis: 'People think I’m a financial adviser; I’m not' |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/martin-lewis-interview-not-a-financial-advisor-3434191 |website=The i Paper |date=2024-12-17 |access-date=2024-12-20 |language=en-US |first=Emily |last=Baker |quote=His latest programme might be a step away from his usual money patch, but it still capitalises on his pre-existing skills. This time it’s his love of board games under the spotlight – specifically, winning them}} 

Additional comments from user: his latest program is about board games and this explains the connection

This post was generated using the Add A Fact browser extension.

Back ache (talk) 09:54, 20 December 2024 (UTC)

Campaigns

Reclaiming Bank Charges

Lewis's first campaign that was involved in bringing him to wider national attention was work in reclaiming bank charges. It  began in the mid-2000s when he started educating consumers about the legality of excessive bank charges, such as unauthorised overdraft fees and bounced payment charges.[1]

Through Lewis’s advocacy efforts, via his website over six million of his template letters  were downloaded [2], resulting in approximately £1 billion being refunded to consumers.[3]  Elliott Haworth (talk) 11:39, 9 January 2025 (UTC)