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Gareth ThomasMP
Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office 8 October 2013 – September 2015
Leader	Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Emma Reynolds
Chair of the Co-operative Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 July 2001
Preceded by	Jim Lee
Minister of State for International Development
In office 5 October 2008 – 13 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Hilary Benn
Succeeded by	Alan Duncan
Member of Parliament for Harrow West
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Robert Gurth Hughes
Majority	13,314 (26.4%)
Shadow Minister for Local Government
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 October 2016
Leader	Jeremy Corbyn
Preceded by	Position Established
Personal details
Born	(1967-07-15) 15 July 1967 (age 57) Harrow, London, England
Political party	Labour Co-operative
Alma mater	Aberystwyth University, University of Greenwich, King's College London
Website	gareththomas.org

Gareth Richard Thomas (born 15 July 1967) is a British Labour Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrow West since 1997 and the Chair of the Co-operative Party since 2001. Thomas held the position of Minister of State at the Department for International Development and, following the 2010 election, joined the shadow frontbench team.

He sought to become the Labour Party's candidate in the 2016 election for Mayor of London, but came last of the six candidates in the ballot.

Early life

Thomas attended Hatch End High School on Headstone Lane in Hatch End, then Lowlands College in Harrow. At the University College of Wales Aberystwyth he gained a BSc in Economics in 1988 and later a PGCE from the Thames Polytechnic in 1992. He gained an MA in Imperial and Commonwealth Studies from King's College London in 1996 and became a teacher.

Parliamentary career

Gareth Thomas is Chair of the Co-operative Party and served as President of the 2003 Co-operative Congress. He was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Development in 2003 and sponsored the Industrial and Provident Societies Act through Parliament.

In 2003 Thomas made an early attempt to ban smoking in restaurants with a Private Members Bill.

After 29 June 2007 reshuffle he remained at International Development whilst also being part of the new Department 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.

Following Gordon Brown's reshuffle of 3 October 2008, Thomas was promoted to Minister 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 to Kevin 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 and then served as the Shadow Minister for Europe until October 2014. He now holds the position of Shadow Minister for Africa and the Middle East. In addition he is Deputy Shadow Minister for London.

At the 2015 general election Conservative candidate Hannah David produced a swing from Labour to the Conservatives, and Thomas saw his majority reduced to 2,208.

In the 2017 general election he was re-elected as the member of Parliament for Harrow West with an increased majority of 13,314.

References

1. "Opposition Front Bench". The Labour Party. Archived from the original on 5 June 2010.
2. Stone, Jon (15 May 2015). "Labour MP Gareth Thomas joins the race to be his party's London Mayor candidate". Independent. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
3. "Congress Presidents 1869–2002" (PDF). February 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
4. "Smoking ban passes first test". BBC. 14 April 2003. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
5. "Gareth R Thomas MP". Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 21 September 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
6. "Harrow West parliamentary constituency – Election 2015 – BBC News". BBC Online. Retrieved 9 May 2015.

External links

• Official website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Find Your MP | Harrow West | Gareth Thomas – BBC News
• Biography: Gareth R Thomas MP – Department for International Development
• Gareth R Thomas MP – Portfolio, Biography, Speeches – Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform

• 1967 births
• UK MPs 1997–2001
• Alumni of the University of Greenwich
• Alumni of Aberystwyth University
• Alumni of King's College London
• Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies
• Presidents of Co-operative Congress
• People from Harrow, London
• English people of Welsh descent
• Living people
• UK MPs 2001–05
• UK MPs 2005–10
• UK MPs 2010–15
• UK MPs 2015–17
• UK MPs 2017–