Biography of Leigh Lewis
Leigh was born near Harrow, north London, in 1951. He went to his local state primary school, and then to Grammar School in Harrow, before going on to Liverpool University where he read Hispanic Studies. As part of his course he lived in Seville in Spain for an academic year in 1971.
After graduating from Liverpool, Leigh joined the Civil Service in 1973, where he was to work for nearly 38 years. During a long and varied career he worked on industrial relations, health and safety and employment law as well as being a Private Secretary to two ministers. Leigh became the first Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus in the early 2000s, before moving to the Home Office where he worked on policing and intelligence, including being in place when the London tube and bus bombings took place in July 2005. His final Civil Service role was as Permanent Secretary to the Department for Work and Pensions from the end of 2005 until his retirement at the end of 2010.
Since retiring Leigh has held a number of appointments in the private and third sectors including with the homelessness charity, St Mungo’s, and with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Outside of work Leigh spends much time with his four grandchildren and watching Watford FC, of which he has been a lifelong supporter.
Leigh was knighted and became Sir Leigh Lewis in 2007.
A Q&A with Leigh Lewis
I had actually written and had published a non-fiction work, entitled ‘How to be a Minister’, which I wrote with one of my former ministers back in 2012. But it was a long time after that before I ever thought of trying to write a novel. That didn’t happen until the early 2020s when I was caring for my late wife, Susan. I started writing ‘Secrets from the Grave’ almost by accident, just as a way of taking my mind somewhere else for a few hours every so often.
To begin with it was very spasmodic. Slowly, as the story began to form in my mind, I started to become a bit more disciplined. But even then I didn’t write every day.
The fact that, for a long time, I didn’t know how the story was going to end! I had an idea who the main characters were going to be and where the action was going to take place but I just couldn’t work out a story line through to a conclusion. In the end I somehow got there. I’m still not entirely sure how!
A fair bit. I already knew quite a lot, from my own experience, about the worlds of government and intelligence. And, from my student days onwards, I’d travelled frequently to Spain and spoken passable Spanish. But there were specific parts of the plot where I had to do quite a bit of research to try and make sure that what I was writing was accurate. I was pretty shameless in calling in help from friends with specialist knowledge where I needed help.
Yes! Quite frequently. There was one period of some weeks when I just couldn’t get my mind round how to make two parts of the plot join up. But then, literally in the small hours one night, a solution came into my mind. I was so terrified that I might have completely forgotten it by the next morning that I got up and scribbled it down there and then!
I’m the classic north Londoner! Born and raised near Harrow with almost zero knowledge when I was growing up of anywhere north of Watford. Which is a bit of an irony in that I’ve lived in Watford for most of the last 40 years!
I’ve always loved spy novels and detective fiction. My absolute hero is John Le Carré. I really do think he is in a league of his own.
I’m not sure it was the first but ‘Catch 22’ by Joseph Heller had a lasting impression on me as one of the great anti-war novels of all time.
So many things, but spending time with my grandchildren has to be at the top of my list.
I honestly don’t think there is a message. I just hope readers will enjoy it and not come away disappointed.
Yes, please. I’d love that. Do, please, get in touch via my website's contact form or Troubador.
I don’t think so, not least because at this moment I have no idea what it might be. But I suppose never say never!
What inspired you to become a novelist?
Did you write every day, or only when inspiration struck?
What did you find most challenging about writing ‘Secrets’?
How much research went into the book?
Did you ever experience writer’s block, and how did you overcome it?
Where did you grow up?
Who are your biggest literary influences?
Do you remember the first book that really moved you?
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
What message do you hope readers will take away from ’Secrets’?
Can readers contact you with questions or feedback?
Will there a sequel to ‘Secrets from the Grave?