Gareth Richard Thomas is a British Labour Company-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Harrow West since 1997 and the Chair of the Company-operative Party since 2001.
Education
Gareth 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 Bachelor of Science in Economics in 1988 and later a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from the Thames Polytechnic in 1992.
Career
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 official candidate in the 2016 election for Mayor of London, but came last of the six candidates in the ballot. He gained an Master of Arts in Imperial and Commonwealth Studies from King"s College London in 1996 and became a teacher.
Gareth Thomas is Chair of the Company-operative Party and served as President of the 2003 Company-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 Acting through Parliament. After the 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.
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 2003 Thomas made an early attempt to ban smoking in restaurants with a Private Members Bill. In 2015 Thomas attempted to become the Labour Candidate for the 2016 London Mayoral Elections.
As part of his campaign to become the official Labour Party candidate, Thomas made an uncosted promise to cut Tube fares by 20%.
Politics
Labour Company-operative, Labour Party.
Membership
52nd United Kingdom Parliament. 53rd United Kingdom Parliament. 54th United Kingdom Parliament.
55th United Kingdom Parliament.
56th United Kingdom Parliament]
In May 2010 he was re-elected as Member of Parliament for Harrow West with an reduced majority (based on a "notional" 2005 result).