Gareth Thomas | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for International Development | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 3 October 2008 – 13 May 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Office established | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Alan Duncan | ||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Consumer Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 3 October 2008 – 5 June 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | The Lord Jones of Birmingham | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | The Lord Davies of Abersoch | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament forHarrow West | |||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 1 May 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Robert Gurth Hughes | ||||||||||||||||||
| Majority | 6,642 (14.6%) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chair of theCo-operative Party | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 10 July 2001 – 8 June 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jim Lee | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Anna Turley | ||||||||||||||||||
| Member ofHarrow Council forWealdstone | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 3 May 1990 – 17 July 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Cyril Harrison | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Gareth Richard Thomas (1967-07-15)15 July 1967 (age 58) Harrow, London, England | ||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour Co-op | ||||||||||||||||||
| Education | |||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||||||||
| Website | gareththomas | ||||||||||||||||||
Gareth Richard Thomas (born 15 July 1967) is a BritishLabour and Co-operative politician who has served as theMember of Parliament (MP) forHarrow West since1997. He served asParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Services, Small Business and Exports from July 2024 to September 2025.[1][2] Thomas also served asMinister of State for International Development andMinister of State for Trade, Investment and Consumer Affairs between 2008 and 2010. He was theChair of the Co-operative Party from 2001 until 2019.
Thomas spent his childhood in theLondon Borough of Harrow, attendingHatch End High School and laterLowlands College. He gained aBachelor of Science (BSc) degree in economics fromAberystwyth University, graduating in 1988. He later undertook aPostgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at Thames Polytechnic (now theUniversity of Greenwich) to become a teacher, which he completed in 1992. In 1996, he studied for aMaster of Arts (MA) degree in Imperial and Commonwealth Studies atKing's College London.
Thomas was first elected to representHarrow West at the1997 general election when he defeated the incumbent Conservative,Robert Hughes, with a majority of 1,240 votes.[3]
He was appointedParliamentary under-secretary of state at theDepartment for International Development in 2003.
The same year, Thomas made an early attempt to bansmoking in restaurants via a Private Members' Bill.[4]
Following a June 2007 reshuffle, Thomas remained at International Development whilst also being part of the newDepartment for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, being appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade Policy and Consumer Affairs. He had the responsibility of co-ordinating trade policy between the two departments.[5]
FollowingGordon Brown's reshuffle of 3 October 2008, Thomas was promoted toMinister of State in both departments, taking on the portfolio of Trade, Investment and Consumer Affairs. In the June 2009 reshuffle DBERR was abolished, leaving Thomas to continue his role solely at International Development, with responsibility for consumer affairs passing toKevin Brennan.
In May 2010 he was re-elected as Member of Parliament for Harrow West with a reduced majority (based on a notional 2005 result). He was Shadow Minister for Higher Education and Science from October 2010 to October 2011, Shadow Minister for Civil Society from October 2011 to October 2013, Shadow Minister for Europe from March 2013 to October 2014, then Shadow Minister for Africa and the Middle East from October 2014 to March 2015.
At the 2015 general election theConservative Party candidate Hannah David produced a significant swing from Labour to the Conservatives, reducing his majority to 2,208. Thomas received his worst general election result to date at the 2015 election.[6]
In the2016 European Union referendum, Thomas campaigned for the UK to remain a member of the European Union (EU) and has consistently supported the United Kingdom's membership of the EU.[7]
Thomas supportedOwen Smith in the2016 Labour leadership election.[8] FollowingJeremy Corbyn's re-election as Labour leader, Thomas was one of the first Labour MPs to return to the frontbench, as Shadow Minister for Local Government until June 2017.
In 2017, he voted against the bill permitting the government to start negotiations on withdrawal from the EU by sending an article 50 notice to the EU; in doing so he broke theparty whip.[9]
In the2017 and2019 general elections, Thomas was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Harrow West with majorities of 13,314 and 8,692 respectively.[10]
Thomas organised Harrow's first university fair at Whitmore High School in 2016, allowing students to engage with leading universities within the UK and abroad.[11] The event has been held annually since, and due to its success an additional careers fair was arranged for late 2020.
In 2020, Thomas said the next Labour leader "should confirm they will not support nationalising the water and energy industries", claiming that voters were put off voting Labour because they did not believe these pledges were deliverable alongside calls fornationalisation of the railways andRoyal Mail, which Thomas supports.[12]
Thomas supportedEmily Thornberry in the2020 Labour leadership contest.
He has served on theOfficial Opposition frontbench as Shadow Minister for International Trade since April 2020.[13]
Thomas is a member of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East and a founder member of Labour Friends of India.
2024 General Election
Thomas retained his seat with a majority of 6,642 in the2024 General Election[14] whereupon was appointed the government role of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Business and Trade[15]
In 2015, Thomas sought to become theLabour Party's candidate in the2016 election forMayor of London, receiving sufficient nominations to make it to the final six nominees for the party's mayoral candidate. He finished in last place on the party's final ballot with 1.2% of the vote, withSadiq Khan becoming Labour's mayoral candidate.[16]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHarrow West 1997–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Lord Jones (Resigned from post) | Minister of State at theDepartment for International Development 2008–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Jim Lee | Chair of theCo-operative Party 2001–2019 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
