Gareth Thomas was first elected as the Labour MP for Harrow West in 1997, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 8,692.
The constituency of Harrow West is found in North West London and covers the residential communities of Harrow, Wealdstone, Rayners Lane, and Headstone. The famous Harrow school is found within this constituency, as is Harrow town centre. The seat contains a strong commuter population who use the Metropolitan line to travel into central London. This is an ethnically diverse area in which a quarter of the electorate are said to be of Asian descent. Previously held by the Conservative Party continuously between 1945 and 1997, the politics of Harrow West have changed dramatically in recent years. Labour first gained this seat in 1997 at a time when the seat was 196th on Labour’s target list. The party have held it with a majorities that have increased notably since that time.
Thomas is currently the Shadow Minister of International Trade.
During the Brown government, he served as Under Secretary of State and Minister of State for Trade Policy and Consumer Affairs between 2007 and 2009, and then as Minister of State at the Department of International Development between 2008 and 2010.
Born in 1967, Thomas gained an economics degree from Aberystwyth then later studied history at King’s College, London and qualified as a teacher at Greenwich University. A former teacher, he was elected to Parliament at the comparatively young age of 29.
Thomas had previously been a local government councillor in Harrow. He was Chair of the Co-operative Party between 2001 and 2019.
Thomas voted to Remain in the European Union in the 2016 referendum and also supported Owen Smith in his challenge to Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership. He backed Emily Thornberry in the 2020 Labour leadership election.
Gareth Thomas is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mutuals. He is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Infant Feeding and Inequalities; and Tamils.
Thomas enjoys both rugby and football. He is a supporter of Arsenal.
Email: thomasgr@parliament.uk
Personal Website: www.gareththomasmp.org
Twitter: @GarethThomasMP
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GarethThomasMP
