Gareth Thomas (born 25 September 1954) is a Labour Party politician in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was Member of Parliament for Clwyd West from 1997 to 2005.

Early life

Born in

Penygroes, Gwynedd Penygroes () is a village in Gwynedd, Wales. The village is located to the south of Caernarfon, and north of Porthmadog, by the A487 road. Penygroes' population stands at 1,793 at the 2011 census, of which 88% are Welsh-speaking, making it one ...

, Thomas is the son of a toolmaker. Although brought up on

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, he is a fluent

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

speaker. He went to Rock Ferry High School on Ravenswood Avenue in

Rock Ferry Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire. At the ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

. After graduating in law (

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

) from the

University of Wales, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University () is a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 students studying across three academic facul ...

in 1976, he was initially employed in the insurance industry and managed a loss adjusting company in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. He graduated from the

Council of Legal Education The Council of Legal Education (CLE) was an English supervisory body established by the four Inns of Court to regulate and improve the legal education of barristers within England and Wales. History The council was established in 1852 by the Inns o ...

(CLE) in 1977. Thomas has been a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

in a private practice since 1986 specialising in personal injury litigation and is a member of Amicus.

Parliamentary career

A member of

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...

between 1995 and 1997, Thomas was elected to Parliament at the 1997 general election. Before 1997, Clwyd West had been regarded as a

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable enclosure used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body ...

Conservative seat. His political interests include Wales, legal reform, social security and the environment. He was a member of the

Select Committee on Welsh Affairs The Welsh Affairs Select Committee (or simply the 'Welsh Affairs Committee') is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and poli ...

, the Select Committee on Social Security and the Joint Human Rights Committee. He unsuccessfully sought the nomination for Clwyd West seat in the inaugural Assembly elections losing out to

Alun Pugh Alun John Pugh (born 9 June 1955) is a Welsh politician who served as the Member of the National Assembly for Wales (AM) for Clwyd West from 1999 to 2007. A member of Welsh Labour, he is a former Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Culture, ...

. Following the 2001 general election he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the

Secretary of State for Wales The secretary of state for Wales (), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Wales Office. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Ki ...

, Paul Murphy, and in October 2002 moved with Murphy to the

Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; , Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for handling Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of S ...

in the same capacity. He was a member of Labour's Parliamentary Campaign Team. At the 2005 general election, Thomas was narrowly defeated by the Conservative Party candidate David Jones. Thomas has returned to the legal profession, working as a barrister at Atlantic Chambers Liverpool. In 2013 he was chosen as the Labour Party's candidate for Clwyd West at the 2015 general election. However, he was again defeated by Jones, this time by 6,730 votes. He stood again for his old seat at the 2017 election, cutting Jones' majority to 3,437 votes, and achieving a swing of 5% in the process.

Personal life

Outside politics, Thomas's interests include restoring old buildings, traditional rural crafts and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He continues to live in his former constituency, near

Ruthin Ruthin ( ; ) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and Rhewl. The name comes from the Welsh ''rhud ...

. He is married to Joanne, and between them they have four children, including his youngest son, Howell Thomas. His wife contested his former seat at the 2019 general election.

References

External links

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Gareth 1954 births Living people Members of Flintshire County Council Welsh Labour MPs Alumni of Aberystwyth University UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 Politicians from Birkenhead People from Penygroes, Gwynedd