Gareth Thomas, MP for Harrow West
Gareth Thomas has been an MP since 1997.
Roles and committees
Posts held in government or opposition, and committee seats, as Parliament records them.
In government
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Department for Business and Trade) | 2024 to 2025 | |
| Minister of State (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) (Trade, Investment and Consumer Affairs) (also Department for International Development) (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) | 2008 to 2009 | |
| Minister of State (Department for International Development) (Department for International Development) | 2008 to 2010 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary(Department for International Development) (Trade Policy) (also Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) (Department for International Development) | 2007 to 2008 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) (Trade and Consumer Affairs) (also Department for International Development) (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) | 2007 to 2008 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for International Development) (Department for International Development) | 2003 to 2007 |
In opposition
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Shadow Minister (International Trade) (Department for Business and Trade) | 2020 to 2024 | |
| Shadow Minister (Communities and Local Government) (Department for Communities and Local Government) | 2016 to 2017 | |
| Shadow Minister (Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) | 2013 to 2015 | |
| Shadow Minister (Cabinet Office) (Cabinet Office) | 2011 to 2013 | |
| Shadow Minister (Business, Innovation and Skills) (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) | 2010 to 2011 | |
| Shadow Minister (International Development) (Department for International Development) | 2010 |
Committees
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Trade (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) Bill [HL] | 2024 | |
| Co-operatives, Mutuals and Friendly Societies Bill | 2022 | |
| Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Bill | 2022 | |
| Compensation (London Capital & Finance plc and Fraud Compensation Fund) Bill | 2021 | |
| International Trade Committee | 2020 | |
| International Trade Committee | 2019 | |
| Environmental Audit Committee | 1997 to 1999 |
Other posts
| Post | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Party Chair, Co-operative Party | 2000 to 2019 |
Countries of interest
Political Interests
Source: UK Parliament Members API · Parliament’s own page
Declared interests
MPs must publish certain paid work, gifts, donations and other interests. This is a record of what they declared, not a suggestion that anything is wrong.
Gareth Thomas has 1 interests currently registered.
| Type | What was registered | Registered |
|---|---|---|
| Land and property (within or outside the UK) | Residential in Harrow | 27 Jun 2014 |
Source: Register of Members’ Financial Interests · Parliament’s own page
Questions
MPs can ask ministers questions in writing. The questions show what an MP is working on, which votes cannot.
Gareth Thomas asked 217 written questions in the last 12 months.
Who they asked
Latest questions
Source: Written Questions API · Updated 4 Oct 2026
Expenses
MPs claim back money for running an office and working in two places. An independent body, IPSA, publishes every claim. This is what was paid in 2025-26.
61 claims. For comparison, across the 657 MPs in IPSA’s file the middle MP was paid £18,469 and the average was £19,699.
Source: IPSA, individual business costs data · About this data
Election result and area
Gareth Thomas represents Harrow West. Here is who won there at the last general election, and a few numbers about the area.
Labour
votes ahead of second place
of people who could vote did
Gareth Thomas won with 44% of the votes, and Abbas Merali (Conservative) came second with 29%.
Votes for each party
Every candidate
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gareth Thomas | Labour | 19,833 | 43.8% |
| Abbas Merali | Conservative | 13,191 | 29.2% |
| Pamela Fitzpatrick | Independent | 4,120 | 9.1% |
| Michael Beavis | Reform UK | 2,639 | 5.8% |
| Rupert Nepal George | Green Party | 2,438 | 5.4% |
| Chris Noyce | Liberal Democrat | 2,404 | 5.3% |
| Bharatkumar Ishverbhai Patel | Independent | 616 | 1.4% |
2024 General Election, on today’s boundaries. Source: House of Commons Library via the Members API.
Your area at a glance
Median gross weekly pay, 2025. Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
Share of people aged 16 to 64, August 2026. Source: ONS and DWP claimant count.
How they vote
In the last 12 months Gareth Thomas took part in 171 Commons votes.
More detail on how they vote
Gareth Thomas voted the same way as their party in 169 of the 169 votes where parties gave instructions (100%), and went the other way in 0.
What does this mean?
Parties tell their MPs how to vote. Most MPs usually follow that. A high or low count says nothing on its own about whether an MP is good or bad, and we do not rank MPs by it. We only count votes where parties gave instructions, not free votes. How we count it
Recent votes
| Date | Vote | They voted | Compared with party |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep | End of life for terminally ill adults: the first main vote | For | Free vote |
| 11 Sep | A vote to end a debate | For | Free vote |
| 10 Sep | Social housing: an attempt to block it | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
| 8 Sep | Health: a proposed change | Against | Same as party |
See every vote on Parliament’s site
Has this changed over time?
View data table
| Month | This MP | Party average |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Nov 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Dec 25 | 100% | 100% |
| Jan 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Feb 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Mar 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Apr 26 | 100% | 100% |
| May 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jun 26 | 100% | 100% |
| Jul 26 | 100% | 99% |
| Sep 26 | 100% | 100% |
Source: Commons Votes API
This page states what the record shows. It does not say why an MP voted as they did. How we calculate this