He served with the RAF during World War II as a staff officer at Allied HQ Europe, the Air Ministry, and with a Pathfinder Squadron.
From 1949 to 1952 he was a member of Middlesex County Council, and contested Parliamentary elections as Conservative candidate in 1945 and 1950 at Newton, and at Ashton-under-Lyne in 1951.
In February 1984 he spoke in the Commons against the ban on Trades Union representation at GCHQ, urging the government to show more recognition of the needs of workers for representation, and joined former prime minister Edward Heath in abstaining on the vote.
Lewis was an active churchman, and served as chairman of a Standing Committee of the World Council of Churches.
His son Christopher Lewis was elected to Torbay Council in 2007.