Mark Clifford Thomas (born 11 April 1963) is an English

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audienc ...

, presenter, political satirist, and journalist. He first became known as a guest comic on the

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

comedy show ''

The Mary Whitehouse Experience The ''Mary Whitehouse Experience'' was a British topical sketch comedy show produced by the BBC in association with Spitting Image Productions. It starred two comedy double acts, one being David Baddiel and Rob Newman, the other Steve Punt an ...

'' in the late 1980s. He is best known for political stunts on his show, '' The Mark Thomas Comedy Product'' on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

. Thomas describes himself as a " libertarian anarchist".

Biography

Early life and education

Mark Thomas was born in

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the boroughs, in whole or in part, of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, Sut ...

. His mother was a

midwife A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; ...

and his father a self-employed builder (and ex-

lay preacher Lay preacher is a preacher or a religious proclaimer who is not a formally ordained cleric and who does not hold a formal university degree in theology. Lay preaching varies in importance between religions and their sects. Although lay preache ...

). Thomas was educated at Macaulay Church of England Primary School, Victoria Rise, Clapham until 1974, where his party trick was to recite the first verses of the four

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

s from memory. He then won a scholarship to attend the independent

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

School, where he attained

O-levels The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

and

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...

in English, history, and politics and economics. At school, Thomas was influenced by his drama teacher, Duncan Noel-Paton, and by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

's play ''

The Caucasian Chalk Circle ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (german: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a ...

'', in which the audience's sympathies are swayed from one view of a political argument to the other; speaking of this to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' in 1999, he said "I was amazed that a play could make you change your mind". In a 2016 interview, he stated that he became an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

at the age of 12, and subsequently developed an interest in radical politics during his teenage years, including anarchism,

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

and

Trotskyism Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

. He went on to be awarded a degree in Theatre Arts at

Bretton Hall College Bretton Hall College of Education was a higher education college in West Bretton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It opened as a teacher training college in 1949 with awards from the University of Leeds. The college merged with the Univ ...

. During his time at Bretton Hall, he made his debut as a performer, co-writing and performing satirical sketches at

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

Labour Club.

Career

After graduating, Thomas subsequently embarked on his comedy career, initially supporting himself through working on building sites with his father. Thomas' early exposure to comedy was through watching and listening to Dave Allen, ''

Steptoe and Son ''Steptoe and Son'' is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business in 26a Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC in black and w ...

'', ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September ...

'' and

Tony Hancock Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor. High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series ''Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...

; his biggest influence was hearing a recording of

Alexei Sayle Alexei David Sayle (born 7 August 1952) is an English actor, author, stand-up comedian, television presenter and former recording artist. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement in the 1980s. He was voted the 18th gre ...

: "It was like someone had kicked the door in – just listening to that tape and thinking that someone could do this stuff". He also cited the playwright Trevor Griffiths as an early influence, describing him as "an absolute genius". He went on to write material for Dave Allen. Prior to his most renowned vehicle, ''The Mark Thomas Comedy Product'', Thomas was a frequent guest comic on the

show ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience'', where he would do a routine about a specific topic of the week and involve studio audience members in the discussions. He would also occasionally play parts in sketches written by the show's main performers. He then became the resident

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

comic on ''

Saturday Zoo ''Saturday Zoo'' is a British alternative comedy and chat show series, featuring an eclectic mix of stand-up acts, interviews and music. Hosted by Jonathan Ross, it ran for 13 episodes, beginning in January 1993, on Channel 4. Production The s ...

'', a

comedy series first screened in 1993 and appeared on an episode of '' Have I Got News for You''. He co-presented the highly successful Radio 1 comedy talk show ''Loose Talk'' with Kevin Day, and is a founder member of the London

Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy S ...

's hard hitting ''Cutting Edge'' show. His political comedy show, ''The Mark Thomas Comedy Product'' (later renamed as simply ''The Mark Thomas Product'', to reflect its increasing political agenda) on Channel 4 earned him criticism from

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

s but was seen by critics as a crucial investigative tool. In one edition, Thomas investigated the practice of avoiding inheritance tax by declaring art, furniture, homes and land available for public viewing. After discovering that

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

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 o ...

(MP)

Nicholas Soames Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames, Baron Soames of Fletching, (born 12 February 1948) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Sussex from 1997 to 2019, having previously served as the MP for ...

was claiming tax relief on a "three-tier mahogany buffet with partially reeded slender balustrade upright supports" on this basis, but without making any arrangements for the furniture to be inspected by the public, Thomas invented a 'National Soames Day' on which hundreds of people made appointments to see the furniture. Soames subsequently decided to pay the tax on the item and

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony ...

, then

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Ch ...

, changed the law. In 2015, Thomas told ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

s Adam Jacques: "I try to find the good in my enemies. It's not unusual to be able to get on with people despite what they are doing being awful. The only person I have met who I considered to be without any redeeming features was ��Nicholas Soames. ��He was such a pantomime baddie." Leaving Channel 4 was a mutual decision, following a series of disputes over how far the channel would go in its broadcasting, one of which concerned the channel's reluctance to support actions concerning

corporate accountability Corporate accountability is the acknowledgement and assumption of responsibility for the consequences of a company's actions. It can be defined in narrowly financial terms, e.g. for a business to meet certain standards or address the regulatory re ...

and

corporate manslaughter Corporate manslaughter is a crime in several jurisdictions, including England and Wales and Hong Kong. It enables a corporation to be punished and censured for culpable conduct that leads to a person's death. This extends beyond any compensat ...

laws—a cause he had campaigned for—which coincided with

the Queen Mother ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

's funeral. He declined to take part in a proposed ''Celebrity Guantanamo Bay'' '

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

' show. Thomas has appeared at numerous comedy benefit nights, and is a well established stand-up comedian in the UK. He is the chairman of the Ilısu Dam Campaign, a campaign which was successful in temporarily blocking the development of a large-scale

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined a ...

in southeast

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

that campaigners claim will lead to the displacement of up to 78,000 people, mostly

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...

, without adequate compensation or consultation, as well as to environmental and cultural destruction. Recently, Thomas has been working with War on Want in India and investigating and filming alleged

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

violations in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

(by, amongst others,

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...

) where

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

s are targeted by

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

allegedly controlled by the government. He wrote a regular column for the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' between 2001 and 2007. The parliamentary committee which oversees weapons exports, the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

Quadripartite

Select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system) A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system o ...

, commended him for his undercover work, which led to official warning letters being issued to a number of companies. His work in this area is covered in ''As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in the Arms and

Torture Trade The term torture trade refers to the manufacture, marketing, and export of tools commonly used for torture, like restraints and high-voltage electro-shock weapons. In 2001, Amnesty International released a report on "Stopping the Torture Trade". ...

'', a book chronicling his experiences undercover, his political activism and his projects designed to find and report loopholes in arms trading laws, which culminated in a controversial un-broadcast ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...

'' report about the

Hinduja brothers Hinduja Group is an Indian transnational conglomerate. The group is present in eleven sectors including automotive, oil and specialty chemicals, banking and finance, IT and ITeS, cyber security, healthcare, trading, infrastructure project deve ...

Whilst promoting this book on his latest tour, Thomas organised mass lone demonstrations, in protest of the

Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 The Serious Organized Crime and Police Act 2005 (c.15) (often abbreviated to SOCPA or SOCAP) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom aimed primarily at creating the Serious Organised Crime Agency. It also significantly extended and si ...

. A parliamentary act that prevents any demonstrations within London's

Parliament Square Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contai ...

zone without prior police approval. The last event attracted over 100 individual protesters at the same time. In 2006, he was added to the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing worl ...

for most demonstrations held on one day: 20 individual protests in 20 different locations. Although he actually performed 21 protests the first and last took place at the same location, so it was agreed that only 20 would count towards the record. His record was later beaten in 2010 by the Freman College Amnesty group, who held 23 demonstrations. In 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...

, for services to peace and for his work as a comedian, political activist, presenter and investigative journalist, especially for his effective campaigning on the ethics of the arms trade. The university has a long-standing Department of Peace Studies. In 2009, Thomas launched the Huddersfield Policy postcard campaign, petitioning the Queen with protests against the prospect of a state funeral for

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

. For his 'It's The Stupid Economy' UK tour in 2009, Thomas played 55 shows over 14 weeks between March and end July, and encouraged each audience to come up with their own policies (silly or serious) that would somehow make their lives better, forming a " People's Manifesto". Each audience then got to vote on their favourite policy of that evening and the winning suggestion then formed part of his manifesto which he will then campaign for and attempt to actually make at least some of the suggestions become reality. In April 2010, Thomas was awarded £1200 compensation for a search carried out by police in 2007. He had been unlawfully subject to a stop-and-search without adequate cause, after speaking at an anti-arms rally. During 2010 Thomas decided to go rambling in the Middle East and walked the entire length of the Israeli Separation Barrier, crossing between the Israeli and the Palestinian side. His touring show entitled "Walking The Wall" (2011) was shortlisted for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression award and his book ''Extreme Rambling'' recounted the story. Thomas revealed in 2013 that he had discovered, through a Data Protection request, that he had been under police surveillance as a result of his investigative journalism for

and the ''

'' and put on the domestic extremist database. He cautioned other journalists, "I apologise for the boastful tone but the police have monitored public interest investigations in my case since 1999. More importantly if the police are keeping tabs on a lightweight like myself then they are doing the same and more to others. This is more than supposition as I know of other NUJ members on the database." The following year, Thomas and five journalists and photographers who had also been under surveillance by the London

Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

National Domestic Extremism and Disorder Intelligence Unit The National Domestic Extremism and Disorder Intelligence Unit (formerly, the National Domestic Extremism Unit) is a national police unit of the National Police Chiefs' Council within the Metropolitan Police Service Specialist Operations Group. ...

(NDEDIU) began legal action against the force. The NDEDIU's reports obtained by Thomas described him as a "general rabble rouser and alleged comedian" and stated, "Mark Thomas stops. Has quantity of cress on rear of his cycle." He told ''

s Adam Lusher, "The police's powers of observation are to be admired, I did indeed have cress on my bike. utIs it really suitable to spend taxpayers' money observing the movement of cress?" In January 2020, Thomas returned to the stage with his new show 'Mark Thomas: 50 Things About Us' where he states little-known facts about the UK with his trademark mix of stand-up, storytelling and research.

Television

* ''Friday Night Live'', Channel 4 (1988) * ''Saturday Zoo'', Channel 4 (1993) * ''Viva Cabaret'', Channel 4 (1993) * ''Denton'', Channel 7 Australia (1994) * '' The Mark Thomas Comedy Product'' (later renamed ''The Mark Thomas Product''), Channel 4 which ran for six series totalling 45 episodes (1996–2002) * ''Dispatches: The Lie of the Land'', Channel 4 (1998) * ''Thomas Country'', Channel 4 (1999) * ''The Immigration and Asylum Bill'', Channel 5 (2000) * ''Secret Map of Britain'', Channel 4 (2002) * ''Dispatches: Mark Thomas – Broom Cupboard Inspector'', Channel 4 (2003) * ''Dispatches: Mark Thomas — Debt Collector'', Channel 4 (2003) * ''Dispatches: After School Arms Club'', Channel 4 (2006) * ''Dispatches: Mark Thomas on Coca Cola'', Channel 4 (2007)

Radio

* ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience'', Radio 1 (1989) * ''The Mix'', Radio 5 (1990) * ''Sleeping with the NME'', Radio 5 (1991) * ''Loose Talk'', Radio 1 (1991–1992) * ''Booked!'', Radio 4 (1995–1998) * ''Celluloid Psychiatrists'', Radio 4 (2000) * ''Left Bank of the Mind'', Radio 4 (2001) * ''Mark Thomas Presents…'', Radio 4 (2005) (shows on

Stan Freberg Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was an American actor, author, comedian, musician, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director. His best-known works include "St. George and the Dragonet" ...

, the

Firesign Theatre The Firesign Theatre (also known as the Firesigns) was an American surreal comedy troupe who first appeared on November 17, 1966, in a live performance on the Los Angeles radio program ''Radio Free Oz'' on station KPFK FM. They continued ap ...

Shelley Berman Sheldon Leonard Berman (February 3, 1925 – September 1, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, and lecturer. In his comedic career, he was awarded three gold records and he won the first Grammy Award for a spoken comedy reco ...

and

Mort Sahl Morton Lyon Sahl (May 11, 1927 – October 26, 2021) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actor, and social satirist, considered the first modern comedian. Sahl pioneered a style of social satire that pokes fun at political and current event t ...

) * ''Chain Reaction'', Radio 4 (2006) * ''My Life in Serious Organised Crime'', Radio 4 (2007) * ''Ramblings'', Radio 4 (2008) (walking

The Ridgeway The ancient tree-lined path winds over the downs countryside The Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. The section clearly identified as an ancient trackway extends from Wiltshire along the chalk ...

track in Wiltshire and Oxfordshire) * '' Mark Thomas: The Manifesto'' Radio 4 (2009–2013) * ''Bravo Figaro'', Radio 4 (2013)

Discography

* ''Sex, Filth and Religion'' (video) (1995) * ''Live'' (1998) * ''Dambusters'' (2001) * ''The Night War Broke Out'' (2004) * ''Mark Thomas Comedy Show'' (2005) * ''Mark Thomas:Serious Organised Criminal'' (DVD) (2007) * ''Bravo Figaro'' (2013)

Live tours

* ''As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela...'' (2006) * ''Serious Organised Criminal'' (2007) * ''Belching Out The Devil'' (2008) * ''It's the Stupid Economy'' (2009) * ''Extreme Rambling – Walking the Wall'' (2011) * ''Bravo Figaro'' (2012) * ''100 Acts of Minor Dissent'' (2013) * ''Cuckooed'' (2014) * ''Trespass'' (2015) * ''The Red Shed'' (2017) * ''Showtime from the Frontline'' (2018) * ''Check Up'' (2019) * ''Black and White'' (2022)

Other live shows

* ''Mark Thomas: Metrix Consortium at The Open University'' (9 September 2008)

Books

* ''As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture Trad''e (2007) * ''Belching Out the Devil: Global Adventures with Coca-Cola'' (2009) * ''Mark Thomas Presents the People’s Manifesto'' (2010) * ''Extreme Rambling: Walking Israel’s Separation Barrier. For Fun''. (2011) * ''100 Acts of Minor Dissent'' (2015) * ''The Liar’s Quartet: Bravo Figaro!, Cuckooed, The Red Shed – Playscripts, Notes and Commentary'' (2017) * ''50 Things About Us: What We Really Need to Know About Britain'' (2020)

Awards

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

Comedy Award (1990) *

Perrier Comedy Award The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ...

nominee (1992) In addition to being recognised for his comedy career, Mark Thomas has been awarded various citations for his political campaigning, including: * Kurdish National Congress Medal of Honour (2002) * International Service Award for the Global Defence of Human Rights (2004) * MediActivist Awards (2005) * Former Guinness World Record Holder for Most Number of Political Demonstrations in 24 Hours He was also made an

honorary Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doc ...

by the

on 3 December 2008, in recognition of his peace campaigning and services to comedy.

Politics

As a part of his television series, Thomas stood as an Independent candidate for the safe- Labour parliamentary seat of Hemsworth in a 1996 by-election. He came eighth of ten candidates with 122 votes as the election was won by Labour's Jon Trickett. In his 4 March 2002 ''New Statesman'' column, Thomas placed a

bounty Bounty or bounties commonly refers to: * Bounty (reward), an amount of money or other reward offered by an organization for a specific task done with a person or thing Bounty or bounties may also refer to: Geography * Bounty, Saskatchewan, a g ...

on the head of US President George Bush to the value of £4,320 (his total earnings writing for the magazine to that point). In February 2009 British entertainers

David Baddiel David Lionel Baddiel (; born 28 May 1964) is an English comedian, presenter, screenwriter, and author. He is known for his work alongside Rob Newman in ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' and his comedy partnership with Frank Skinner. He has als ...

Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom '' Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows '' Never Mind th ...

Morwenna Banks Tamsin Morwenna Banks (born 20 September 1961) is a British comedy actress, writer and producer. She appeared in the Channel 4 comedy sketch show '' Absolutely'', and wrote, produced, and appeared in the British ensemble film ''The Announcemen ...

Sanjeev Bhaskar Sanjeev Bhaskar (born 31 October 1963) is a British actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for his work in the BBC Two sketch comedy series '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and as the star of the sitcom ''The Kumars at No. 42''. H ...

, Jo Brand,

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian and actor known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. Brand has received three British Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer (2006), Best Live Stand-Up (2008), and the award for ...

Rob Brydon Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He played Dr Paul Hamilton in the Australian/British comedy series ''Supernova'', Bryn West in the BBC sitcom '' Gavin & Stacey'' ...

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...

Jack Dee James Andrew Innes Dee (born 24 September 1961), known professionally as Jack Dee, is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter and writer known for his sarcasm, irony and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom ''Lead Balloon'' ...

Omid Djalili Omid Djalili ( fa, امید جلیلی; born 30 September 1965) is a British actor, comedian and writer. Early life and education Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in Chelsea, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents. He attended Holland Park ...

Sean Lock Sean Lock (22 April 1963 – 16 August 2021) was an English comedian and actor. He began his comedy career as a stand-up comedian and in 2000 he won the British Comedy Award, in the category of Best Live Comic, and was nominated for the Pe ...

Lee Mack Lee Gordon McKillop (born 4 August 1968), known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and presenter. He is known for his quick wit, writing and starring in the sitcom '' Not Going Out'', being a team captain on th ...

Meera Syal Meera Syal FRSL (born Feroza Syal; 27 June 1961) is a English comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, ...

, Mark Thomas said in an open letter printed in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

newspaper of the Baháʼí leaders to be on trial in Iran: "In reality, their only "crime", which the current regime finds intolerable, is that they hold a religious belief that is different from the majority.... we register our solidarity with all those in Iran who are being persecuted for promoting the best development of society ...(and) with the governments, human rights organisations and people of goodwill throughout the world who have so far raised their voices calling for a fair trial, if not the complete release of the Baháʼí leaders in Iran." Echoing the comments earlier in the month made by two hundred and sixty seven non-Baháʼí Iranian academics, writers, artists, journalists and activists from 21 countries including Iran who signed an open letter of apology posted to

Iranian.com Iranian.com is a website of syndicated Iranian-related news. The website has changed ownership over time, and promotes Palestinian rights advocacy and anti-regime change advocacy. When Javid, the original owner, started the website in 1995, he ...

and stating they were "ashamed" and pledging their support in Baháʼís achieving the rights detailed in the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt ...

for the Baháʼís in Iran. See

Persecution of Baháʼís Persecution of Baháʼís occurs in various countries, especially in Iran, where the Baháʼí Faith originated and where one of the largest Baháʼí populations in the world is located. The origins of the persecution stem from a variety of Ba ...

. Prior to the

2015 UK general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. It was the first and only general election held at the end of a Parliament under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Local ...

, he was one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who has twice led the Green Party of England and Wales and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Pavilion since the 2010 general election. She was re-elect ...

. In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, Thomas signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...

's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few."

References

External links

Official website

Mark Thomas: Taking comedy seriously
— BBC profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Mark People educated at Christ's Hospital Alumni of Bretton Hall College English activists English anti-war activists English anarchists British anti-capitalists English libertarians English male comedians English comedy writers English humorists English male journalists English atheists English republicans People from Balham 1963 births Living people 20th-century English comedians 21st-century English comedians