Talk:Martin Lewis (financial journalist)

Affiliate programs

The article fails to mention Martin Lewis' various affiliate programs with a number of banks, and opportunity to increase personal wealth through recommendations not always in the consumers interests. 82.35.108.32 (talk) 22:57, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

IMHO, Lewis's affiliate links are always clearly marked as such, but if you want to contribute some encyclopedic content in this area, feel free! Take care, though: your note seems weasel-worded. Also, beware violating WP:CRITIC ... richi (talk) 23:19, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

He couldn't get away with doing things against consumer interest because of the massive forum scrutinizing every word he writes. He often responds to criticism (e.g here about the use of affiliate links instead of recommending a cashback site). If you intend to add something about this to the article why not put the accusation to him on his feedback board first. If the intention is to make a positive contribution to the article it would probably be the best way to get a fair and balanced view from both him and the other site users who you allege he is in someway cheating 172.142.16.215 (talk) 16:32, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

Career section

I don't like the structure of the career section - it seems a bit odd that 'early career' should be at the end and MoneySavingExpert.com should be at the beginning. Wouldn't a chronological structure be more logical? Vl'hurg ^talk 23:12, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Agree the article is biased. Willing to help with a rewrite. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thefourthestate (talk • contribs) 05:28, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Icelandic banks

This section seems to be rather disproportionately large. It was a UK wide event which Lewis was not the cause of, was just one minor factor in (e.g. the councils losing cash) and all savers (UK) got their money back. Yet it is given more space than direct issues such as bank charges, debt help work, council tax reclaiming which are much more specifically Martin Lewis. It seems to me that this event should be shortened to a line or so e.g.

"Lewis, was one of many who listed Icelandic banks amongst his best buys. The banks later collapsed, though the UK compensation scheme repaid all the money back to savers. When receiving minor flack for this from a few members of his forum and one TV interivew, Lewis pointed out that his methodology relied on explaining the protection schemes, not looking at individual bank solvency."

Any comments? Or I shall change on next edit. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Helplinechap2 (talk • contribs) 13:59, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

I agree the current version gets side tracked and perhaps suffers from having been written as events unfolded, but I don't think your rewrite is any better. How you record reaction on his forum is not simply about counting posts and saying this group far outweighs that group so we'll discard the minority. If you were conducting the Banking Enquiry you'd throw out the whistleblower's evidence! Think of an event like the politician George Osborne and the allegations against him about asking for party donations on a yacht in Corfu last year. You would not expect members of the Tory party to say anything other than we support George, he has done nothing wrong. You would not expect members of Martin Lewis' website to criticise him, what was significant was the expression of anger and the fact that some members did turn against him, and that some of those members had their posts removed (e.g skepticalquestions). The aim should be to record the factual significance and why his methodology proved controversial, your changes seem designed to bury it.

____________

On the above notes. I think your equating MoneySavingExpert.com Forums to a political party doesn't hold water. It is a very broad church with a variety of opinions. As one of the UK's biggest social networking sites to assign the idea that it automatically follow's Lewis' opinion seems rather strange; and isn't evidenced. (unsigned by HelpLineChap2).

Not sure how to answer this one. I'll leave it to t4e to respond. MarkyMarkD (talk) 21:19, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

---

Suggestion on editing Icelandic bank section and other controversial sections of Lewis' biog

Helplinechap, my suggestion above was to use compare and contrast which is a well established technique for self-checking what you write before publication. You clearly want your edits to stand. I think it will help you, I have not edited the biog but made suggestions here.

As an example, take your statement above Martin Lewis' site is 'one of the UK's biggest social networking sites'(the seventh largest according to this article http://www.pcworld.com/article/160606/friends_reunited_becomes_a_top_uk_web_destination.html). His biog says his chat forums are 'non-revenue generating activities'and this is the widely held view of millions of people on his forum, including you I guess. So it must be true.

Try compare and contrast to decide if it stands up. Think about the statement 'Moneysavingexpert's traffic is to non-revenue generating activities, such as its chat forums' and apply it to other social networks you know like My Space or Friends Reunited. Compare and contrast his terms and conditions on content with other social networks:

MSE - 6.1 All of the content on our site is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by UK and international copyright laws.

6.2 The content on our site includes any information or other material found on MoneySavingExpert.com, including chat forums, articles, databases, graphics, software and all other features of our site. You are allowed to use our content for personal, non-commercial use only. You may make one copy of extracts from this site on any single computer for personal, individual use only, provided that all copyright and proprietary notices are kept intact. Apart from that, none of our content may be republished, posted, transmitted, stored, sold, distributed or modified without our prior written consent.

7. Your content

7.1 Just so that you know, you own any copyright in the text that you post to our chat forums. However, when you post text, you expressly grant us a perpetual, unlimited free license to republish that text on our site and to redistribute/make available and/or sell that text in print or electronic form anywhere in the world as part of an edited compilation or otherwise.

My Space - 6. Proprietary Rights in Content on MySpace.

6.1 MySpace does not claim any ownership rights in the text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, musical works, works of authorship, applications, or any other materials (collectively, "Content") that you post on or through the MySpace Services. After posting your Content to the MySpace Services, you continue to retain any such rights that you may have in your Content, subject to the limited license herein etc

6.2 The license you grant to MySpace is non-exclusive (meaning you are free to license your Content to anyone else in addition to MySpace), fully-paid and royalty-free (meaning that MySpace is not required to pay you for the use on the MySpace Services of the Content that you post), sublicensable (so that MySpace is able to use its affiliates, subcontractors and other partners such as Internet content delivery networks and wireless carriers to provide the MySpace Services), and worldwide (because the Internet and the MySpace Services are global in reach).

Lewis does not claim his social network is non-revenue generating. To the Indy he said 'I read the forums on my own site because they're my biggest source of information on money saving' (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/martin-lewis-my-week-in-media-768665.html). His media work earns him a very substantial living I would guess and in his own words his biggest source of information is his forum. His practice of taking tips sourced by forum members and presenting them as his own work in his email and media appearances puts him at odds with his members. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=14242689&postcount=62

It's up to you if you think Wikipedia's information on his chat forum is accurate or needs to be edited, why not try out an edit here first if you think it is inaccurate and see if as polar opposites we can agree?

On Icelandic banks, I'm against your suggested edit. This was a huge story in personal finance last year (see my talk page for references). There's tons of evidence that variety of opinion on MSE isn't respected, particularly on Icesave http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=14800411&postcount=60) Thefourthestate (talk) 12:45, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

Campaigns

Why not agree content for this page here before posting it? The most recent edit on energy tariffs is very specific on dates but does not fit with the evidence. For example, on 30th September 2008 Lewis stated '3 in 5 CHANCE OF UP TO 20% GAS & ELECTRICITY RISE NEXT JANUARY'http://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2008/09/30/gas-and-electricity-prices-more-rises-to-come-predictions/. Helplinechap2 may not want Lewis to have said this since energy prices have actually fallen but Wikipedia is not the place to rewrite history. Instead of fighting it out changing the page, why not draft copy here and once it is felt to be accurate the actual article can be changed? Thefourthestate (talk) 19:18, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

As for your point of drafting here. Its certainly seems something appropriate. The problem being it isn't happening and often comments which approach defamation are left in the main biog itself. There does seem to be a bias amongst those on the current profile to seek out negative factors and highlight oft with incorrect research or value based judgements. (unsigned by Helplinechap2).

I agree with thefourthestate about seeking some consensus here before editing the main page. I feel like I am attempting to steer a middle course between t4e and hlc, but hlc probably thinks I am nearer t4e's viewpoint.

I think, though, that hlc needs to accept that the sun doesn't shine out of ML's trousers and that he has made mistakes - some of which have cost people dearly.

Any road up...

The update from the Times article is interesting, but also interesting is the 30 September quote from ML himself. He got it wrong. It's also interesting that on 6 August in his Money Tips he was saying "don't switch, the boat has sailed", whilst on 7 August on GMTV he was saying "switch now - today or tomorrow at the latest". Either I'm misunderstanding the timelines there, or he's schizophrenic. You would expect the Money Tips to be more out of date than GMTV given that GMTV is live and the money tips have to be prepared which takes some time.

How about this as a "straw man" for discussion? This is exactly how it would appear on the page so please don't mess up all the referencing!  ;)

In Summer 2008, Lewis appeared on several TV & radio programmes exhorting consumers to "cap your energy bills now". After that point British Gas announced an increase of 30% on its prices.

Lewis reiterated his belief that prices would continue to rise at the end of September 2008."3 in 5 chance of up to 20% gas & electricity rise next January". 2008-09-30. Retrieved 2009-02-22.</ref>

However, in January 2009 UK energy companies' prices were reduced by 0-10%. Whilst according to info published by Uswitch after the price cuts, in February 2009, those who followed Lewis' Summer 2008 advice gained, "Those who were savvy enough to sign up to a competitive fixed-price plan last summer, before some increases in wholesale energy were passed on, are sitting pretty as prices would need to drop by 16% on average before it would be worth moving.", those who switched following later advice are likely to have made the wrong choice: "Research by Uswitch has found that those who signed up to a fix late last year or the start of 2009, when prices peaked, would most likely benefit by switching."

MarkyMarkD (talk) 21:19, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

As with Icelandic banks, what level of detail is appropriate on a Wikipedia biog? Helpline introduced some detail that associated Martin Lewis exclusively with successful capping and disassociated him with unsuccessful capping. This required further evidence to be suggested to set the record straight, but then you are into tit for tat and I am not sure a clear picture emerges for the casual reader. I'm going to read some other biogs and come back on thisThefourthestate (talk) 00:03, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

Should this be a campaign? I don't think so, I thnk it was Lewis doing a lot of stories in the media about capping which lots and lots of other affiliates were also doing. In the Times, Uswitch does not say it was Martin Lewis' advice that savvy consumers followed , it could have been any affiliate and as I recall at the time Google News recorded something like 450 articles on utlity prices and capping in one day. Also, at the time Martin Lewis specifically plugged a BG cap which was the longest one available and which was described by some as the most expensive cap http://www.lovemoney.com/news/household-bills/change-your-energy-tariff-today-1639.aspx . http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/221676/fix-your-energy-prices-with-scottis/showthread.php?t=221676&page=2. He recommended the longest cap available because he was of the view that prices would rise 30% in January 09. However, prices have actually fallen so with hindsight at the time of his advice the best cap was British Gas Price Protect April 2009. Lewis and all the other so called money saving experts missed this. As I say, I don't think this warrants as a campaign and if it stays it should be recorded accurately. Thefourthestate (talk) 13:29, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

I agree. It's not a campaign, it's simply an example of ML getting things wrong - exactly as with the Icelandic banks situation - and in both cases he was quids in as result of the advice (because of affiliate linking). As it's previously been suggested that Icelandic banks has too much prominence, maybe both sections (Icelandic banks and Energy capping) should come under a single main heading of "Dubious advice" or something like that. MarkyMarkD (talk) 16:27, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

I agree, how about a section headed Controversy where it can be recorded that although Lewis has enormous support the longterm benefits of his methods have been called into question. Icelandic banks and other brief examples could go in this section. I would like to wait a while now to hear what helplinechap thinks. Thefourthestate (talk) 17:24, 8 March 2009 (UTC)

It's been several months and no word from helplinechap. The latest changes are from what Google search says is an IP address used for anonymous surfing. What is Wikipedia's policy on this?Thefourthestate (talk) 12:01, 6 September 2009 (UTC)

Is it accurate to say several consumer groups have engaged Raymond Cox QC? According to BBC Radio 4 Money Box, Martin Lewis has engaged Govan Law Centre, listen here to hear it from the horse's mouth - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/8382995.stm Signature added Thefourthestate (talk) 01:58, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

References

Charitable giving

Should the reference to charitable activity have its own section? 'Boost' is your opinion, the Mafia has a long history of donating to charity, giving to charity tells you nothing about an organisation especially when the company puts its url in the charity's logo. It could be charity, it could be tax efficient marketing, we don't know and no accounts have been filed with the Charity Commission for the registered charity MSE Charity. Hope that helps, interested to see your next edit.Thefourthestate (talk) 12:03, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

I concur, although it would need to be linked into the ethical bit about the website. I'll think about it. MarkyMarkD (talk) 21:19, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

As for the note about charity - my edit was intended to change the fact that the 'ethical stance' the site talks about isn't about the charity money raised, but how the affiliate links are designated; to change the word boost is fine. As for the idea that the charity isn't a charity... that is inappropriate supposition based on no factual information.

The MSE charity is a relatively new body - previously all the money went to main categories, and the aims on the website make it quite clear - it is a grant giving body to other charities and individuals seeking qualifications. How that could be equated to 'tax efficient marketing' I find difficult to conceive. (not signed by HelplineChap2)

Any giving by a corporate entity, or indeed an "unlimited company" is a form of tax-efficient marketing. It is naive to believe that it's anything else IMHO. MarkyMarkD (talk) 21:19, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

My point was charitable donations are used here to bolster his claim to an ethical business, the same happens on his forum in answer to critics. He may be completely ethical, he probably is fairly ethical, but to use his giving to charity as evidence is wrong and far from it being inappropriate supposition based on no factual information my point goes all the way back to the bible http://bible.cc/matthew/6-3.htm If it's charity then the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. Martin Lewis could have kept his business separate from his chairty, then his motivation would have without question been charitable. By including the url of his company in the logo of the charity, unfortunately you need to be sceptical and there's a limit to what you can claim is his motivation.Thefourthestate (talk) 23:51, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

Your point is very valid. It would have been just as tax-efficient for ML to pay himself the money as dividends, and then to Gift Aid it as an individual to charity. But that wouldn't have benefited MSE.com, and it wouldn't have made him look good. Draw your own conclusions, Helplinechap2. MarkyMarkD (talk) 20:20, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

Article title

There was some discussion earlier about whether it should be ML (financial journalist) or ML (personal financial journalist).

How about we go the whole hog, and change it to "Martin Lewis (Money Saving Expert)" as that is how he styles himself and that will be the most likely way for most people to find the article?

Thoughts?

MarkyMarkD (talk) 21:25, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

I think this is a good suggestion, it's quite brilliant actually because I'm guessing helpline will agree tooThefourthestate (talk) 23:53, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

Controversy

I just removed a new edit -

There is some controversy within the affiliate community that Lewis misrepresents the way in which he runs his website Lewis makes various claims about the website's ethical and unbiased status, defined as only ever writing about the best products, without allowing revenue to impact upon any recommendations. Lewis also provides non-affiliate links - on some products - for those who nominally wish to bypass giving him or his website commission.

That whole section seems based on a forum thread(s) and I think needs to be shown that this is a concern with the industry from a reliable source

The following paragraph (which is still in the article was moved to the newly created "Controversy" section

...the company via which Lewis owns the website changed from being a limited company...

But is this a controversy? Need a citation to a reputable source where this has been questioned or suggested to be controversial.

Perhaps you can provide a reason why this is normal or even commonplace? I cannot fathom any reason as to why anyone would remove themselves from the comfort of limited liability unless it was to hide their earnings from the public. Care to extrapolate? I can provide umpteen sources of other companies doing just this, which I believe to be sufficient. 21:56, 20 December 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.112.179.214 (talk)

With the greatest respect, Wikipedia is about pure facts backed up by citable sources. You say "I cannot fathom any reason as to why anyone would remove themselves from the comfort of limited liability unless it was to hide their earnings from the public.". Fine. that's your opinion. Wikipedia is not about opinion. Check out WP:OR where is says you must NOT "analysis or synthesis of published material that serves to advance a position not advanced by the sources" which is what you're trying to do.

"can provide a reason why this is normal or even commonplace?" - It's not about that. Wikipedia is not about you and me debating company structure. Even if we debated, had a great discussion, and 100% agreed at the end of the day, it would not be allowed on Wikipedia because it would be our opinion and Original Research rather than material from a reliable source. You need to find a source online where someone notable has found the structure iffy. Has an expert or known commentator in this field written a piece about this being a strange thing for MoneySavingExpert to do? Has a newspaper drawn attention to it? I don't remember any newspaper articles with titles like "Moneysavingexpert.com's controversial new structure" etc etc Identz (talk) 14:51, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

So I've reverted these edits Identz (talk)

Yes, that is true. It is in the public domain if you care to look. I have reverted your removal of the above paragraph, I am not sure why you removed the entire paragraph if you didn't happen to agree with one segment of it, the rest was already in the article. I suspect you have vested interests given your edit history. Can you clarify? 87.112.110.54 (talk) 19:21, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

No - No vested interest. I think you'll see from all my edits that I have always tried to maintain a neutral point of view. And please WP:AGF. But in order to be neutral and encyclopaedic a lot of that stuff has to go so to try to reach compromise I've done the following:

• Removed the word Controversy. While everything you've added about what he's done with his company may be true, you haven't cited any source that says his actions are controversial. You believing that this is controversial is not enough (Even if it turned out you are the most pre-eminent expert in the field). Can you cite any reputable sources where someone else has said what Lewis has done is controversial? Because that's what's required.

A verifiable source so not the most used affiliate forum in the UK where the industry discusses this very sector? How do we decide what is a reliable source or not? Please clarify, oh holy self-appointed expert on this matter, as per your edits. If you are not Martin Lewis himself, then you definitely have an interest in affiliate marketing which I suspect is giving way to bias. Please provide some information for clarity. 87.112.179.214 (talk) 22:03, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

No not any kind of vested interest. My only interest is in the neutrality of the article. You say I'm a "self-appointed expert on this matter" whereas all I have done is actually to read Wikipedia's policies. Please read WP:IRS which will tell you everything you want to know about why the forum is not a reliable source. I draw your attention to in particular:

Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced—whether the material is negative, positive, neutral, or just questionable—should be removed immediately and without waiting for discussion.

and

Anyone can create a website or pay to have a book published, then claim to be an expert in a certain field. For that reason self-published media—whether books, newsletters, personal websites, open wikis, blogs, personal pages on social networking sites, Internet forum postings, or tweets—are largely not acceptable.

...but don't just read those parts, that whole article should be read to understand how Wikipedia works. Identz (talk) 14:51, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

• Removed "The website is thought to generate substantial turnover as the completion of the purchase of a few financial products, via affiliate links, can be £100 or more". Who thinks this? Once again, you may think that, but does any reputable source say this? You've provided sources why you think this might be a case and then drawn a conclusion - But that's not what's done on Wikipedia. See WP:OR. You need to find where a reliable source has drawn the conclusion the site "generate[s] substantial turnover".

Who thinks this? Not necessarily me. I didn't add that sentence. 87.112.179.214 (talk) 22:03, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

• Removed "There is some controversy within the affiliate community that Lewis misrepresents the way in which he runs his website Lewis makes various claims about the website's ethical and unbiased status, defined as only ever writing about the best products, without allowing revenue to impact upon any recommendations..." Citing a forum thread where a few people have had a discussion is not enough justification to be in an encylopedia. I'm sure you'll agree that if we tried, we could find a forum thread about anyone saying anything. You need an example where press or one of the major websites that covers affiliate stuff have done a piece criticising Martin Lewis. If the above could be put in then I could just as easily find a forum thread speculating Barack Obama is a space alien then go to his article and say "There's some speculation that Obama is not of this world" and link to the forum thread. It'd be just as true as what you added about Lewis in that it had been discussed in a forum thread, but worthy of Wikipedia?

There you go. You may suggest I have some sort of vested interest but I'd respectfully suggest that what I've done above is only the course of action of someone trying to be encylopedic and neutral. Identz (talk) 02:46, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

The Barack Obama example is unfortunate, and irrelevant. Affiliates4U, the website that I mentioned in the hastily-removed edit is the leading UK resource of the affiliate industry - which of course I am sure you are more than aware of, giving your rather unclear position. Please provide a WP:policy reference or link, on why the eminent UK forum run for and by UK affiliates does not fit the bill in your mind on a "reliable source". 87.112.179.214 (talk) 21:54, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

"Affiliates4U...leading UK resource of the affiliate industry" - You can't leverage their name to support opinions expressed on their forum (Why don't you ask them if they're okay with that?) Do Affiliates4U themselves criticise or comment on Lewis? I've looked on their News Page. Even Industry Blogs sections. Nothing! - and you'd think they would comment if what he does is so controvesial. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Identz (talk • contribs) 16:10, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

I can only, once again, urge you to read WP:IRS and WP:OR. Which I think answers ALL of your questions. You've accused me of many things above and not WP:AGF which I have tried my best to do for you despite all your contributions to the article being negative. Please, please read these policies and you'll understand why I've removed your edits and you'll see what is needed for them to be included Identz (talk)

References

Martin Lewis (or his team) editing this & mse wiki articles?

http://www.insiders-view.co.uk/something-odd-about-an-ip-address "Martin Lewis’ (financial journalist) Wikipedia page which has been revised several hundred times has recent edits by an IP address associated with Lewis.

IP address 93.152.127.10 has edited Lewis’ page, and the Wiki entry for moneysavingexpert.com, a site owned by Lewis, 13 times."109.224.137.121 (talk) 16:10, 18 April 2012 (UTC)

I think it's very safe to say that site is a bit biased

What they say looks true, but have a look at the edits:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Martin_Lewis_%28financial_journalist%29&diff=478629450&oldid=478479678
• http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Martin_Lewis_%28financial_journalist%29&diff=438391653&oldid=436873531
• http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Martin_Lewis_%28financial_journalist%29&diff=414603971&oldid=414446583
• http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Martin_Lewis_%28financial_journalist%29&diff=310146289&oldid=308973021
• http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Martin_Lewis_%28financial_journalist%29&diff=311631467&oldid=311061950

Hardly a concerted effort to manipulate the article. Looks more like a bored office worker with time on their hands.

If someoene was told to change the article on behalf of Lewis they should be sacked for incompetence. Look at the state of it. Not even a picture!

I've been accused of being connected to Lewis/MSE before. Believe me, if I'd been employed to fix the article it wouldn't look as it currently does. It needs some serious work! Identz (talk) 14:22, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

Further adds of Wonga etc

I've been reverting some edits that were reverted before. Few points:

• No I'm not part of any PR team. I have no connection at all I once again remind of WP:AGF which I'm desperately trying to do with these anonymous edits (You'll notice I'm loggin in rather than using an annoymous IP).
• Please refer to WP:BLP where it says "Contentious material about living persons (or recently deceased) that is unsourced or poorly sourced—whether the material is negative, positive, neutral, or just questionable—should be removed immediately and without waiting for discussion. Users who persistently or egregiously violate this policy may be blocked from editing."
• Therefore you if you want to add the section about Wonga you MUST demonstrate it happedened with a citation. I can find no record of it by searching the internet nor of any widespread criticism. Further, do you think there's another Wikipedia editor out ther that'll agree with the following statement being fair or biased even if you can find a citation for him endorsing Wonga? "There was growing condemnation of the industry, and Lewis sought to distance himself from the lender. Lewis later sought cover by aligning himself with the anti-loanshark campaign". If this happened and there was widespread criticism, why can't you cite it?
• As for the 'controversy' of the financial status, I think I've pointed out above why that must be cited.Identz (talk) 03:26, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

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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)

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