Nick Thomas-Symonds is the author of Attlee: A Life in Politics and Nye: The Political Life of Aneurin Bevan.
33 Facts About Nick Thomas-Symonds
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Nick Thomas-Symonds was born in Panteg Hospital, Griffithstown, Torfaen, and was brought up in Blaenavon.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds's father was a steelworker and industrial chemist, and his mother was a secretary.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds then studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, between 1998 and 2001, where he gained a first.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds was called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn in October 2004 and developed a practice specialising in chancery and commercial law.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds was appointed a tutor at St Edmund Hall, Oxford at the age of 21.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds was later a lecturer in politics at the college, teaching British Politics and Government since 2000; Modern British Government and Politics; Government and Politics of Europe; and Government and Politics of the United States.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds taught for other Oxford colleges, including Harris Manchester College.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds taught US Politics on the Oxford Department of Continuing Education's "Foundations of Diplomacy" course.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2012.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds has published two political biographies: Nye: The Political Life of Aneurin Bevan and Attlee: A Life in Politics.
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On 1 September 2022, Nick Thomas-Symonds published his third political biography, Harold Wilson: the Winner.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds was selected as prospective Labour parliamentary candidate for his home seat of Torfaen on 7 March 2015 and subsequently won the seat in the general election on 7 May 2015.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds made his maiden speech on 28 May 2015.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds resigned the role of Shadow Employment Minister on 27 June 2016, later supporting Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds accepted the position of Shadow Solicitor General on 11 October 2016, and on 3 July 2017 he was appointed as Shadow Security Minister within the Shadow Home Affairs Team.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds made an application to the Speaker for Parliament to consider holding the Government in contempt of Parliament.
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On 25 September 2019, Nick Thomas-Symonds, facing Cox in the House of Commons, said that the Government "stands in shame" given what was "the most damning judicial indictment of a Government in modern times".
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Separately, Nick Thomas-Symonds promoted reform of the structure of Bar professional training courses, to open up the profession to people from a range of backgrounds, arguing that in their current form a disproportionate number of places were being offered on courses when compared with the total opportunities for pupillage.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds successfully convinced the Government to accept amendments to the Counterterrorism and Border Security Bill that nullified the risk the bill posed to removing the right to private legal advice.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds was drawn in the ballot for a Private Members' Bill on 4 June 2015, and introduced the Off-Patent Drugs Bill.
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On 8 December 2015, Nick Thomas-Symonds was chosen as 'Member to Watch' at the Welsh Politician of the Year Awards.
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Amongst his first acts in post, Nick Thomas-Symonds called on the Home Secretary, Rt Hon Priti Patel MP, to provide additional funding for organisations tackling domestic abuse.
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On immigration, Nick Thomas-Symonds argued that the Conservatives lacked compassion and competence.
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On 12 February 2021, it was confirmed that Nick Thomas-Symonds was to be sworn of Her Majesty's Privy Council.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds criticised the Government's Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which was at this time being debated in the House of Commons, for provisions which, he said, put protection of statues before the protection of women.
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In May 2021, alongside celebrities and other public figures, Nick Thomas-Symonds was a signatory to an open letter from Stylist magazine which called on the government to address what it described as an "epidemic of male violence" by funding an "ongoing, high-profile, expert-informed awareness campaign on men's violence against women and girls".
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Nick Thomas-Symonds said it was "crucial that human rights, women's rights and workers' rights are embedded" in the UK trade negotiations.
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Nick Thomas-Symonds prioritised steel exports in his first intervention, writing to International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, urging her to negotiate with the United States to the section 232 steel tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump in 2018.
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On 3 March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Nick Thomas-Symonds called on the UK to place a total ban on exporting luxury goods to Russia to target the "Mayfair lifestyle" enjoyed by President Putin and his inner circle.
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On 2 August 2022, Nick Thomas-Symonds was named as one of the 39 UK personalities banned from entering Russia.
32.
Two days later, on 30 January 2023, Nick Thomas-Symonds hosted a Global Trade Reception where Labour hosted 100 ambassadors, diplomats and high commissioners - including from the US, Canada, France and Germany - as well as over 200 business leaders.
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At the event, Nick Thomas-Symonds declared that Labour was "pro-business, pro-trade and pro-worker".