26 Facts About Tom Brake

Thomas Anthony Brake was born on 6 May 1962 and is a British Liberal Democrat politician.

Tom Brake was the Member of Parliament for Carshalton and Wallington in London from 1997 to 2019.

Tom Brake was appointed Director of the cross party pressure group Unlock Democracy in October 2020.

Tom Brake was born in Melton Mowbray and moved to France when he was eight.

Tom Brake was educated at the Lycee International school in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the western suburbs of Paris, and Imperial College London, where he obtained a BSc in Physics in 1983.

Tom Brake was a computer software consultant with Hoskyns from 1983 until his election to the UK Parliament in 1997.

Tom Brake was actively involved in human rights issues as a student.

Tom Brake was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Hackney in 1988, leaving the council in 1990.

In 1994 Tom Brake was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Sutton and sat on the council until 1998.

Tom Brake stood for election to Parliament at the 1992 general election in Carshalton and Wallington, but was defeated by Conservative Nigel Forman.

In what proved to be a close contest, Tom Brake was elected at the 1997 general election as the Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington, beating Nigel Forman with a majority of 2,267, and remained MP there until he lost the seat at the 2019 general election.

Tom Brake defeated Conservative Ken Andrew in 2001,2005 and again in 2010 with an increased majority.

Tom Brake joined the Liberal Democrat frontbench team in 2003 as the lead International Development spokesman.

Tom Brake was relieved of this position under the new leadership of Sir Menzies Campbell in March 2006, and later that year became spokesperson for local government.

In 2007 Tom Brake became spokesperson for London and the Olympics.

In June 2010 Tom Brake was named Co-Chair of the new Liberal Democrat Backbench Committee on Home Affairs, Justice and Equalities.

Tom Brake Co-Chaired the committee alongside Baroness Hamwee and Lord Thomas of Gresford OBE QC.

On 11 June 2011, it was announced Tom Brake would be appointed a Privy Counsellor in the Queen's 2011 Birthday Honours list.

Between 2014 and 2015, Tom Brake was an Assistant Whip for HM's Treasury.

In January 2015, Tom Brake was appointed to the Liberal Democrat General Election Cabinet as the party's Leader of the House of Commons and London spokesperson.

On 29 July 2015, Tom Brake was named as foreign affairs spokesperson and party chief whip.

In June 2017, Tom Brake was appointed as a Liberal Democrat spokesperson for international trade and European affairs.

Tom Brake lost his seat in the 2019 general election to Elliot Colburn of the Conservative Party.

In October 2020, Tom Brake was appointed as the new director of Unlock Democracy, an organisation which campaigns for a more participatory democracy in Britain, founded upon a written constitution.

Tom Brake has said that new rules should be introduced to require MPs to publish employment agreements linked to their political activities, and meanwhile should make the information available on a voluntary basis.

Tom Brake is an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.