Fred Thomas (British politician)

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Fred Thomas
MP
Official portrait of Fred Thomas MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Plymouth Moor View
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Alma mater King's College London
Website www.fredforplymouth.com
Military career
AllegianceFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Service / branch Royal Marines
Years of service2016–2023
Rank Captain
Service number 30261385

Frederick Jacob Theseus Thomas [1] (born 1991or1992) [2] is a British Labour Party politician and former Royal Marines officer. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Moor View since 2024, defeating veterans minister Johnny Mercer.

Contents

Early life and education

Thomas was born to a civil servant and a teacher, and has four siblings. [2] He is a grandson of historian Charles Thomas and writer Jessica Mann on his father's side, and a grandson of Christopher Brett, 5th Viscount Esher, on his mother's side. [3] He was educated at Winchester College and studied politics, religion and ethics at King's College London. [2] He learned to read and write in Arabic and studied abroad in Egypt shortly after the Arab Spring. [2]

Military service

Thomas was commissioned in the Royal Marines on 5 September 2016, and was appointed to the trained strength on 13 December 2018 with the rank of lieutenant. [4] During his career, he trained in Arctic warfare and was employed in nuclear security at HMNB Clyde. [2] [5] He also became the Royal Marines' light heavyweight boxing champion. [2] He was promoted to captain on 5 March 2020. [6] He left full-time service in February 2023, [2] and subsequently joined the Royal Marines Reserve. [7]

Political career

Thomas was one of fourteen former services personnel standing as Labour candidates in the 2024 general election with him stating on his website that he was seeking to "neutralise Johnny Mercer's electoral 'trump card' of having a military service record" by running in his constituency of Plymouth Moor View. [8] [9] Mercer accused Thomas of attempting to "bloat" his military record in a 2023 newspaper by The Guardian in which he claimed that he had "served in combat missions" and called him a "real life Walter Mitty in Plymouth". [5] [10] Former defence minister Ben Wallace stated that serving "on operations or an operational tour is not necessarily the same as being in combat", and that he "[knew] exactly what the Labour candidate did in uniform and while he was on operations he was not himself in combat." [11]

Thomas said that, having recently served on sensitive operations, he was unable to discuss aspects of his military service and instead cited his certificate of valediction, signed by an unnamed Special Forces Support Group lieutenant colonel, which stated that he obtained "considerable operational experience" relative to how long he served and "lead personnel...in a range of hostile and challenging environments". [12] [10]

On 4 July 2024, Thomas was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Moor View with 17,665 votes (41.2%), a majority of 5,604 over the second place Conservative candidate. [13] [1] On 4 September 2024, he made his maiden speech in the House of Commons during a debate on the Budget Responsibility Bill. [14]

Fred was elected onto the Defence Select Committee in October 2024. [15]

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References

  1. 1 2 "No. 64465". The London Gazette . 19 July 2024. pp. 14078–14087. 407 Plymouth Moor View Borough Constituency Frederick Jacob Theseus Thomas
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Syal, Rajeev (13 August 2023). "Ex-marine chosen by Labour to stand against Johnny Mercer in Plymouth". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024.
  3. ↑ Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage (107th ed.). Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd.
  4. ↑ "No. 62545". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 January 2019. p. 1406.
  5. 1 2 Davis, Miles (21 June 2024). "Plymouth Moor View: Row over candidate's military service record". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024.
  6. ↑ "No. 62991". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 May 2020. p. 8418.
  7. ↑ Fred Thomas (18 November 2024). "Armed Forces Commissioner Bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Vol. 757. United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 84–86.
  8. ↑ Sengupta, Kim (24 June 2024). "'We need leadership': Alistair Carns on giving up a military career to become a Labour MP". The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024.
  9. ↑ James, Harry (5 July 2024). "Army veteran Johnny Mercer loses his Plymouth seat to former Royal Marine". British Forces Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024.
  10. 1 2 Penna, Dominic (21 June 2024). "Johnny Mercer in row with Labour rival over claims he is 'a real life Walter Mitty'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  11. ↑ Telford, William (24 June 2024). "New twist in Johnny Mercer and Fred Thomas row". Plymouth Live. Archived from the original on 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  12. ↑ Mitchell, Archie (21 June 2024). "Mercer urged to apologise for accusing Labour rival of lying about military service". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024.
  13. ↑ "Plymouth Moor View - General election results 2024". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024.
  14. ↑ Fred Thomas (4 September 2024). "Budget Responsibility Bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Vol. 753. United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 371–373.
  15. ↑ Grant, Michael. "Plymouth MP elected to the Defence Select Committee". Plymouth Live. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Plymouth Moor View
2024–present		Incumbent
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