Michael Stuart Thomas (born 24 May 1944) is a former British politician, identified with the Labour Party until 1981 and thereafter with the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He became well known for his role in both the establishment of the SDP and then in the SDP's subsequent demise. The SDP's leader, Roy Jenkins, referred to Thomas as the "pint-sized Pavarotti", on the basis of his stocky build and beard together with his ebullient manner.
Early life
Thomas was educated at the Latymer Upper School and King's School, Macclesfield. In the 1950s both were direct grant grammar schools to which many pupils, including Thomas, were admitted on the basis of local authority scholarships. He studied at Liverpool University from 1962 to 1966, graduating with a BA degree in Economics and Politics. From 1965 to 1966 he served as President of the Liverpool University Guild of Undergraduates and from 1966 to 1968 he was a member of the National Executive of the National Union of Students.
Early political career
He initially made a career in political and social research, acting as head of the Co-operative Party's research department from 1966 to 1968 and as a research associate with the predecessor body of the Policy Studies Institute from 1968 to 1973. He stood as the Labour and Cooperative Party candidate for the constituency of East Hertfordshire in the 1970 general election. On that occasion, Thomas lost to the Conservative Party candidate by a 14,000 vote margin.
Thomas continued in his quest to find a seat in Parliament and eventually succeeded at Newcastle-upon-Tyne East in October 1974, after the death at age 45 of the sitting Labour member Geoff Rhodes. Thomas's rivals for the Labour candidature included a number of local Party activists, notably the prominent local councillor Jeremy Beecham. As an outsider to Newcastle Labour politics, Thomas won the selection vote with the support of left-wing and anti-establishment elements in the local Party. One of the party members who voted for Thomas at the selection meeting later characterised him as "... the classic 'man who got off the train from Kings Cross'. His key asset was that nobody knew anything about him."
He went on to be elected as the Labour and Co-operative Party MP for Newcastle East with a 6,000 vote majority over his Conservative opponent in the October 1974 general election.
The Social Democratic Party
As a new Labour MP, Thomas served as parliamentary private secretary to minister Roy Hattersley from 1974 to 1976. He developed an interest in industrial and commercial matters, serving on the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Nationalised Industries from 1975 to 1979 and as Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party's Trade Group from 1979 to 1981. In 1976 he founded the parliamentary journal 'The House' Magazine.
Once established as an MP, Thomas soon became associated with the Campaign for Labour Victory group of right wingers in the Labour Party led by MP and Environment Minister Bill Rodgers. In February 1981 Thomas was among a number of Labour MPs who left the party to found the new Social Democratic Party. During a final meeting with his constituency Labour Party, Thomas claimed that a postal consultation with constituents showed that most of them supported his decision the leave the Labour Party. He declined to follow the advice of the constituency party that he should resign as an MP and contest a by-election. Thomas remained in Parliament as an SDP MP where he acted as his new party's spokesman on health and social services.
He played a prominent role in the new party's successful launch in March 1981. As a member of the SDP's national steering committee he advised on the selection of SDP candidates for the forthcoming general election and led negotiations with the Liberal Party concerning the sharing out of constituency candidacies between the two centrist parties. The terms of an SDP/Liberal alliance was critical to the electoral success of both. Thomas quickly became known for his obduracy in the seat negotiations with the Liberals. In July 1981 it was reported that :
"Senior Liberals were quietly seething... at the suggestion from Mike Thomas that half the prospective parliamentary candidates already adopted by local Liberal associations should stand down in favour of SDP members."