Frederick Jacob Theseus Thomas (born March 1992) is a British Labour politician and former Royal Marines officer, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Moor View, defeating veterans minister Johnny Mercer in the 2024 general election.[1]
Fred Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Plymouth Moor View | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Johnny Mercer |
| Majority | 5,604 (13.1%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Frederick Jacob Theseus Thomas March 1992 (age 32) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Relatives | Charles Thomas (grandfather) Jessica Mann (grandmother) |
| Alma mater | King's College London |
| Website | fredthomas |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service/ | Royal Marines |
| Years of service | 2016–2023 |
| Rank | Captain |
Early life and education
editThomas was born in March 1992,[2] to a civil servant and a teacher and has four siblings.[3] He is the grandson of historian Charles Thomas and writer Jessica Mann on his father's side and the grandson of Christopher Brett, 5th Viscount Esher on his mother's side.[4] He was educated at Winchester College, then an all-boys independent boarding school in Winchester, Hampshire.[3] He studied politics, religion and ethics at King's College London.[3] He learned to read and write in Arabic and studied abroad in Egypt shortly after the Arab Spring.[3]
Military service
editThomas was commissioned in the Royal Marines on 5 September 2016.[5] During his career, he trained in Arctic warfare and was employed in nuclear security at HMNB Clyde.[3][6] He also became the Royal Marines' light heavyweight boxing champion.[3] He was promoted to captain on 5 March 2020.[7] He left the military in February 2023.[3]
Political career
editThomas 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".[6][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 41.2% of the vote.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b "Plymouth Moor View - General election results 2024". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024.
- ^ "Frederick Jacob Theseus THOMAS personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Companies House. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g 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.
- ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
- ^ "No. 62545". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 January 2019. p. 1406.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "No. 62991". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 May 2020. p. 8418.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.