Thomas Docherty (born 28 January 1975) is a British Labour Party politician who served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Dunfermline and West Fife Dunfermline and West Fife is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from all of the old Dunfermline West and parts of the old Dunfermlin ...

from

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

until

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Early life

Before becoming an MP, Docherty was an Account Director with a communications consultancy, having previously worked for

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

BNFL British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) was a nuclear energy and fuels company owned by the UK Government. It was a manufacturer of nuclear fuel (notably MOX), ran reactors, generated and sold electricity, reprocessed and managed spent fuel (mainly ...

and as a

research assistant A research assistant (RA) is a researcher employed, often on a temporary contract, by a university, a research institute or a privately held organization, for the purpose of assisting in academic or private research. Research assistants are not in ...

to Dunfermline West MSP Scott Barrie.

Parliamentary career

Docherty was elected as the Member of Parliament for

in the May 2010 general election with a 5,470 majority. In 2011, he was a member of the special Select Committee set up to scrutinise the Bill that became the

Armed Forces Act 2011 The Armed Forces Act 2011 is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It part of a series of Acts to provide a legislative framework for the UK Armed Forces. Apart from giving the armed forces the legal authority to ex ...

. He was also a member of the

Public Bill Committee In the British House of Commons, public bill committees (known as standing committees before 2006) consider Bills – proposed Acts of Parliament. The House of Lords does not have such committees, as Bills are usually considered by the House as a ...

for the

Defence Reform Act 2014. The Defence Reform Act 2014 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerned with defence procurement and the UK Reserve Forces, particularly the Territorial Army. It has 51 sections and seven schedules. Part 1 of the Act relates ...

Docherty proposed a

Private Member's Bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

aimed at banning discrimination against members of the Armed Forces and their families in 2014. The proposal was backed by shadow defence secretary

Vernon Coaker Vernon Rodney Coaker, Baron Coaker (born 17 June 1953) is a British politician and life peer serving as Shadow Spokesperson for Home Affairs and Defence since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Gedling from ...

but failed to progress

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband ...

later suggested that a Labour government might introduce legislation along similar lines Docherty also sat on the

Administration Committee The Administration Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It has a remit "to consider the services provided for and by the House of Commons". Membership As of July 2022, the members of t ...

Procedure Committee The Procedure Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to consider the practice and procedure of the House in the conduct of public business. The committee i ...

and the

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee is a Parliamentary select committees of the United Kingdom, select committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit ...

at various times during the 2010-15 Parliament He was a shadow minister with responsibility for environment, food and rural affairs between 2013 and 2014, and in 2014 was appointed Shadow Deputy

Leader of the House of Commons The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of the ...

. Having previously worked in

political lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...

, he proposed a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

in early 2013 which would have required lobbyists to sign a public register and

code of conduct A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization. Companies' codes of conduct A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is commonly writt ...

He criticised the government's own plans when they were unveiled later that year for excluding law firms. After the government's

Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill The Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom introduced in July 2013. The bill was sponsored by the Cabinet Office and the Department for Business, In ...

passed, Docherty introduced a private member's bill aiming at repealing it. In January 2015, Docherty wrote to Culture Secretary

Sajid Javid Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer f ...

on Holocaust Memorial Day, suggesting a debate over banning ''

Mein Kampf (; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germ ...

'' by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. Docherty advocated for a national debate to put "limits on the freedom of expression." He said he didn't necessarily think it should be banned but thought it was important that such a debate took place. Docherty was defeated at the 2015 general election, losing to Douglas Chapman, the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP) candidate.

Personal life

Docherty has lived in Dunfermline with his wife Katie and their children and been a member of Dunfermline Round Table and supporter of

Dunfermline Athletic F.C. Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermlin ...

In January 2017, after

Jamie Reed Jamieson Ronald "Jamie" Reed (born 4 August 1973) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Copeland from 2005 to 2017. A member of the Labour Party, he was a Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Mini ...

announced his resignation as MP for Copeland, Docherty put his name forward to stand in the following by-election. He is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

.Profile
catholicherald.co.uk; accessed 8 May 2015.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Docherty, Thomas 1975 births Living people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Fife constituencies UK MPs 2010–2015 Scottish Labour MPs Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Scottish politicians