He grew up in Croydon, London, and attended Dulwich College before studying history and English at the University of York.
He was then the director of development of Circle 33 Housing Trust before co-founding the consultancy Lemos & Crane in 1990.
He served as the vice-president of the British Board of Film Classification from 2008 to 2018, and has chaired English Heritage since 2023 and National Savings and Investments since 2024.
[1][2] In late 2024, Lemos was nominated for a Labour Party life peerage by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
[5][6] He was created Baron Lemos, of Thornton Heath in the London Borough of Croydon, on 22 January 2025,[7] and was introduced to the House of Lords on 3 February.