Erik Tomáš (born 15 June 1975) is a Slovak politician and former television presenter. Since October 2023, he has served as the minister of labor, social affairs and family of Slovakia. Tomáš was a member of the

National Council of Slovakia The National Council of the Slovak Republic (, abbreviated to ''NR SR'') is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameral and consists of 150 members, who are elected by universal suffrage under proportional representation with seats dis ...

from 2016 until 2023, and state secretary at the ministry of Education in 2016.

Early life and education

Erik Tomáš was born on 15 June 1975 in

Humenné Humenné (; ; ) is a town in the Prešov Region ("kraj") in eastern Slovakia and the second largest town of the historic Zemplín region. It lies at the volcanic Vihorlat mountains and at the confluence of the Laborec and Cirocha Rivers. Na ...

. He graduated from

Comenius University Comenius University Bratislava () is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is named after Jan Amos Comenius, a 17th-century ...

, majoring in biography and geography. Following his graduation until 2006, Tomáš worked as a television presented at the Regina Radio and

TV Markíza Television (TV) is a telecommunications, telecommunication media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of signal transmission, ...

Political career

In 2006, Tomáš started cooperating with the

Direction – Social Democracy Direction – Social Democracy (, Smer–SD), also commonly referred to as Smer, is a left-wing nationalism, left-wing nationalist and left-wing populism, left-wing populist political party in Slovakia led by the incumbent Prime Minister of Slov ...

(Smer) party. He was the spokesperson of the minister of interior affairs

Robert Kaliňák Robert Kaliňák (born 11 May 1971) is a Slovak politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Ministry of Defence (Slovakia), Minister of Defence in the Fico's Fourth Cabinet, Fourth cabinet of Robert Fico since 25 Oct ...

from 2006 until 2010, Smer in 2010, and the government, 2012 to 2016 he was the spokesperson of the government. In the

2016 Slovak parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 5 March 2016 to elect the 150 members of the National Council. The ruling left-wing populist Direction – Social Democracy (Smer) party remained the strongest party, but lost its majority. The ...

, Tomáš was elected an MP of the National Council on the Smer list. From March to August 2016, he briefly served as a state secretary at the ministry of education. For the remainder of the term, Tomáš was an MP and the chief media strategist of the prime minister

Robert Fico Robert Fico (; born 15 September 1964) is a Slovak politician who has served as the prime minister of Slovakia since 2023. He previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He founded the left-wing political party D ...

. He became a member of Smer in 2018. In the

2020 Slovak parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 29 February 2020 to elect all 150 members of the National Council. The populist Ordinary People and Independent Personalities–NOVA–Christian Union–Change from Below (OĽaNO–NOVA–KÚ� ...

, Tomáš retained his seat. Nonetheless, after the election, he was among those Smer MPs, who joined the former MP

Peter Pellegrini Peter Pellegrini (; born 6 October 1975) is a Slovak politician who is serving as the sixth president of Slovakia since 2024. He previously served as prime minister of Slovakia from 2018 to 2020. Pellegrini also served as the Minister of Health, ...

who split from Smer to establish a new party

Voice – Social Democracy Voice – Social Democracy (, Hlas-SD) is a social democratic and populist political party in Slovakia. It was founded in 2020 by dissidents from Direction – Social Democracy (Smer-SD) led by former prime minister Peter Pellegrini. In October ...

. Tomáš' had been seen by the media as being close to Smer leader Robert Fico, which is why his defection was particularly surprising. Following the

2023 Slovak parliamentary election Early parliamentary elections were held in the Slovakia, Slovak Republic on 30 September 2023 to elect members of the National Council (Slovakia), National Council. Regular elections were scheduled to be held in 2024. However, on 15 December 202 ...

, Tomáš was elected to parliament again, becoming the labor minister.

Personal life

Tomáš is married to a woman named Henrieta.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomas, Erik 1975 births Living people People from Humenné Direction – Social Democracy politicians Voice – Social Democracy politicians Labour ministers of Slovakia Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2016–2020 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2020–2023 Comenius University alumni