Tom Harris (British politician)
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Thomas Harris (born 20 February 1964) is a British
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and former
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, a ...
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 Glasgow South, formerly Glasgow Cathcart, from
2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
to
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 ...
. A former member of
Scottish Labour Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of ...
, he left the party in August 2018. Since 2021 he has been lead non-executive director of the
Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland ( gd, Oifis Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba), often referred to as, and formerly officially called, the Scotland Office, is a department of His Majesty's Government headed by the Secretary of State ...
and
Advocate General for Scotland His Majesty's Advocate General for Scotland ( gd, Àrd-neach-tagraidh an Rìgh airson Alba) is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, whose duty it is to advise the Crown and His Majesty's Government on Scots law. The Office of the Advocate Gener ...
. Harris first entered government when he was made a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the
Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
in September 2006 by PM
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
. When Gordon Brown took over as Prime Minister in June 2007, Harris kept his
junior minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, â ...
ial role but, in the October 2008 reshuffle, he was sacked and returned to the backbenches. On 9 June 2009, he was the first Scottish Labour MP to call for
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 (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...
to stand down as prime minister. Harris was a candidate in the
2011 Scottish Labour leadership election The 2011 Scottish Labour Party leadership election was an internal party election to choose a new leader of the Scottish Labour Party. The election followed the announcement by Iain Gray that he would stand down as leader in the autumn of 2011 f ...
, but effectively admitted defeat on 10 December a week before the result was declared. In 2012, he returned to
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 ...
's frontbench as shadow environment minister but left in June 2013 to spend more time with his family, being succeeded by
Barry Gardiner Barry Strachan Gardiner (born 10 March 1957) is a British politician who served as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he ...
.


Early life and career

Tom Harris was born in
Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...
and raised in
Beith Beith is a small town in the Garnock Valley, North Ayrshire, Scotland approximately south-west of Glasgow. The town is situated on the crest of a hill and was known originally as the "''Hill o' Beith''" (hill of the birches) after its ''Court ...
,
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. He was educated at the
Garnock Academy Kilbirnie (Gaelic: ''Cill Bhraonaigh'') is a small town of 7,280 (as of 2001) inhabitants situated in the Garnock Valley area of North Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is around southwest of Glasgow and approximately from Paisley a ...
in
Kilbirnie Kilbirnie ( Gaelic: ''Cill Bhraonaigh'') is a small town of 7,280 (as of 2001) inhabitants situated in the Garnock Valley area of North Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is around southwest of Glasgow and approximately from Paisle ...
and Napier College,
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, where he was awarded an
HND HND or H&D may refer to: Transport * Haneda Airport, serving Tokyo, Japan * Hanborough railway station, in England * Henderson Executive Airport, in Nevada, United States * Hinterland Aviation, an Australian airline Other uses * Croatian Journ ...
in Journalism in 1986. He worked as a trainee newspaper journalist with the ''
East Kilbride News The ''East Kilbride News'' is a Scottish newspaper covering the East Kilbride area. It is the longest-running newspaper in the town. The paper is currently owned by Reach plc. History The East Kilbride News began in 1952, and is the longest serv ...
'' in 1986 before joining the '' Paisley Daily Express'' in 1988. He was appointed as a
press officer A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Duti ...
with the
Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...
in 1990, moving to the same position with Strathclyde Regional Council in 1992. He was briefly the senior media officer with the City of Glasgow Council in 1996 before joining
East Ayrshire Council East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
later in the same year as a public relations manager. In 1998, he became the chief of public relations at the Strathclyde Passenger Executive, where he remained until his election to the
Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
. Harris joined the Labour Party in 1984. He was active in the Edinburgh South Constituency Labour Party and was elected as the chairman of the Glasgow Cathcart Constituency Labour Party for two years in 1998. During his time at this post, he tried to stop the closure of the
ABC Muirend/Toledo The ABC cinema (originally called the Toledo), on Clarkston Road in the Muirend area of Glasgow, existed from 1933 to 2001. At the time of its closing, it was the second-oldest working cinema in Glasgow, Scotland. History The ABC Toledo cinema w ...
cinema, but was unsuccessful.


Parliamentary career

Harris was elected to the House of Commons at the 2001 general election for the seat of Glasgow Cathcart following the retirement of the Labour MP John Maxton. He held the seat with a majority of 10,816 and made his maiden speech on 27 June 2001. His seat was abolished following the creation of the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
at Holyrood and the subsequent reduction of Scottish seats at Westminster. He represented the new seat of Glasgow South from the 2005 general election until losing in
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 ...
. He served on the Science and Technology Select Committee for two years from 2001, and was appointed in 2003 as the
Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...
(PPS) to the
Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...
for
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
,
John Spellar John Francis Spellar (born 5 August 1947) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Warley, formerly Warley West, since 1992. A member of the Labour Party, he previously represented Birmingham Northfield from 198 ...
. From 2005, he was PPS to the Secretary of State for Health
Patricia Hewitt Patricia Hope Hewitt (born 2 December 1948) is an Australian-born British government adviser and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Health from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, she previously served as Secretar ...
. On 7 September 2006, he replaced
Derek Twigg John Derek Twigg (born 9 July 1959) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Halton in Cheshire since the 1997 general election. Early life Twigg attended Bankfield High School (now Ormiston Ch ...
as Parliamentary Under Secretary at the
Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
. However, in October 2008 Harris announced on his blog that the Prime Minister had telephoned him to inform him that he would be returning to the
back benches ''Back Benches'' was a New Zealand political interview show, presented by Wallace Chapman and Damian Christie. It was primarily filmed at the Backbencher pub, across the street from Parliament Buildings in Wellington. The show was cancelled o ...
. He is a committed
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 ( ...
ist and was a member of the National Union of Journalists from 1984 until he joined UNISON in 1997, and has since a member of Unite the Union. He introduced a bill in 2005 for tougher sentences for e-criminals. Also in 2005, he was involved in an argument over the funding of a housing charity which had called for
direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...
following the eviction and deportation to
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
of a Kosovan family seeking asylum from a
flat Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...
in
Drumchapel Drumchapel ( gd, Druim a' Chapaill), known locally as 'The Drum', is a district in the north-west of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It borders Bearsden (in East Dunbartonshire) to the north-east and Drumry (part of Clydebank, in West Dunbartons ...
. He was a keen supporter of John Smith and is reported to have been more of a Blairite than a Brownite. He wrote a popular blog from 2007 to 2010, which has won a number of awards and in 2011 published a book containing excerpts from it, entitled "Why I'm Right and Everyone Else Is Wrong". In the 2009, Top Political Blog Awards run by '' Total Politics'' magazine, it was voted top MP's blog, top Scottish blog and top left-of-centre blog, and was ranked number 8 overall. He is a member of Labour Friends of Israel. On 6 December 2010, he appeared on the BBC Radio 4 '' Today'' programme to criticise protesters who had intimidated ordinary shoppers using Topshop and Vodafone in the run-up to Christmas and suggested that corporate tax avoidance could be prevented by a change in tax regulations. In 2011, he actively campaigned against the Alternative Vote in the referendum that year. Harris was forced to stand down from his role as Scottish Labour's internet adviser on 16 January 2012, following adverse media reaction to his posting of a ''Downfall'' parody on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
ridiculing First Minister Alex Salmond. In August 2011 Harris expressed an interest, and in September 2011 confirmed on Twitter he was standing in the election to be the next leader of the Scottish Labour Party, after the publication of the
Murphy and Boyack review The Murphy and Boyack review was a report compiled by Jim Murphy and Sarah Boyack on the future structure of the Labour Party in Scotland, in response to the landslide victory by the Scottish National Party in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election ...
. He described the
Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...
as having had "no new ideas in 12 years f devolution, and that it must become a "party of aspiration" or it risked becoming irrelevant in the next few years. Harris was the only MP to enter the race and said Labour had become "too closely associated with the public sector", rather than being "a party of business". He also said the "Scottish Labour party was really in deep trouble and that we need to think outside the box. There is no indication that the party is prepared to do that yet and I don't know why". Harris considered standing in the
2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary electi ...
, but announced via his podcast in May 2012 that he had given up this ambition and was committed to stand in his Glasgow South constituency at the
United Kingdom general election of 2015 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. Loca ...
. In 2015, he lost his seat to Stewart McDonald of the SNP.


Post-MP career

Since losing his seat, Harris has set up a public affairs company calle
Third Avenue Public Affairs Ltd
and, as of 2019, is senior counsel for the Edinburgh-based media and political relations consultanc
Message Matters
He is also an associate consultant with Peterborough-based public affairs compan
Cogitamus Ltd
In March 2016 he replaced
Dan Hodges Daniel Pearce Jackson Hodges (born 7 March 1969) is a British newspaper columnist. Since March 2016, he has written a weekly column for ''The Mail on Sunday''. Prior to this, he was a columnist for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and in 2013 was descr ...
as a daily commentator for ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
''. Also in March 2016, he became the new director of the Scottish branch of Vote Leave, the campaign for Britain to leave the EU. Although a eurosceptic, Harris said he had originally intended to vote to stay in; however he found
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
's renegotiation of Britain's membership unsatisfactory, denouncing it as, "a few minor changes of emphasis on the fringes of EU policy" and decided to vote to leave. Harris has continued to speak out in favour of Brexit in his newspaper columns since 2016. In 2016 Harris was a member of the advisory board of the
Reform Scotland Reform Scotland is a Scottish think tank based in Edinburgh. Established in 2008, Reform Scotland is the successor to think tank Policy Institute (1999–2008). Reform Scotland is a company limited by guarantee (No SC336414) and a Scottish cha ...
think tank, and declared himself a "self-confessed Blairite". In March 2018, ''Ten Years In The Death of the Labour Party'' written by Harris was published by Biteback. In August, he announced his resignation from the Labour Party in an op-ed for ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
.'' In November 2019, he announced he would be voting for the Conservatives at the 2019 general election. Harris further admitted on the edition of 29 July 2020 of the Iain Dale All Talk podcast that this wasn't the first time he'd voted Conservative, having done so two years earlier as well. In October 2018, Harris was appointed to the Expert Challenge Panel supporting Keith Williams in his wide-rangin
review
of the British railway industry. As of July 2020, the review has yet to be published. In July 2020 he was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of HS2 Ltd. On 20 October 2021, Harris took on a job for three years as an adviser to the Conservative government on Scottish issues, as lead non-executive director of both the
Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland ( gd, Oifis Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba), often referred to as, and formerly officially called, the Scotland Office, is a department of His Majesty's Government headed by the Secretary of State ...
and
Advocate General for Scotland His Majesty's Advocate General for Scotland ( gd, Àrd-neach-tagraidh an Rìgh airson Alba) is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, whose duty it is to advise the Crown and His Majesty's Government on Scots law. The Office of the Advocate Gener ...
. He said: "I'm delighted to have been appointed to this role and I'm looking forward to contributing to the effective work of the UK Government in Scotland. This is an exciting time to be involved in advising and helping ministers deliver for the whole country."


Personal life

Harris married Carolyn Moffat in 1998; the couple have two sons. He has another son from an earlier marriage which was dissolved in 1996. He is a Christian and enjoys
astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
and
badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...
. He is a fan of ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' and friend of its former showrunner Steven Moffat. Harris contributed to ''Behind The Sofa'', the collection of celebrity ''Doctor Who'' fan memories published by Gollancz in 2013. He firmly opposed a female actor playing the Doctor. In 2019 he launched a Doctor Who podcast called
The Power of 3
, alongside fellow Who fans Kenny Smith and David Steel.


References


External links


Tom Harris
– Westminster Biography
Guardian
– Tom Harris: Electoral history and profile
TheyWorkForYou.com – Tom Harris MPThe Imposter
– Personal podcast narrated by Harris about his life in politics {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Tom 1964 births Living people Alumni of Edinburgh Napier University People from Beith Scottish bloggers Scottish journalists Press secretaries Scottish public relations people Scottish trade unionists Scottish Labour MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Glasgow constituencies UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015