Lewis Baston was born in 1971 and educated at local state comprehensive schools and Magdalen College, Oxford, from where he graduated with a First in Politics, Philosophy and Economics in 1991. He studied under David Butler, the founder of election studies in Britain, at Nuffield College, Oxford and also at Yale University in the early 1990s. He was subsequently assistant and archivist to Dr Butler. From 1994 to 1997 he was principal researcher to Anthony Seldon on the authorised biography of Prime Minister John Major, and from 1998 to 2002 he was a research fellow at Kingston University and historical adviser to a television company.

From 2003 until 2010 Lewis was Director of Research for the Electoral Reform Society, the UK’s leading NGO dealing with electoral matters. He has written several books of history and electoral studies, including guides to recent UK elections and the definitive biography of Reginald Maudling. Since 2010 he has been a research fellow at Democratic Audit, a think tank/ NGO, working on electoral and constitutional matters. In this capacity, he has appeared several times as an expert witness for Parliamentary Select Committees including the Speaker’s Conference on representation, and the Political and Constitutional Reform and Welsh Affairs Select Committees.