Tom Watson
| Tom Watson | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Name | Thomas Anthony Watson (born 8 January, 1967) |
| Nicknames | Tommy Two Dinners (hacks), the Honourable Member for West Bromwich Albion (colleagues sick of hearing about football) |
| Politics | |
| Party | Labour |
| Constituency | West Bromwich East (2001 - Present) |
| Positions | • Deputy Chair of the Labour Party and Campaign Coordinator (October 7, 2011 - 4 July, 2013) • Parliamentary Secretary at Cabinet Office (25 January, 2008 - 10 June, 2009) |
| Likes | Video games, Twitter, West Bromwich Albion F.C., Depeche Mode |
| Dislikes | Phone hacking, criminal conspiracies, News International, paedophiles |
| Friends | Gordon Brown, Chris Bryant, Ed Balls |
| Enemies | Tony Blair, Michael Gove, Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks, News International, Ivan Lewis, hyper-intelligent shark people |
| Relationships | |
| Partners | Siobhan Watson (? - April 2012) |
| Children | Malachy (m, 2005) and Saorise (f, 2008) |
| Personal Attributes | |
| Nationality | English |
| Religion | Loosely Church of England |
| Sexuality | Straight |
| Height | ? |
| Eye Colour | Brown |
| Handedness | Right |
| Accent | ? |
...a Perry Mason or parliamentary Sherlock Holmes. ~ Time Magazine
Tom is a Labour backbencher known primarily for his role in exposing the NOTW phone hacking scandal. During the New Labour years he resigned as part of a Brownite conspiracy to force Tony Blair to announce a resignation date, which worked, although not quite as smoothly as the plotters had hoped.
He is notable in Lolitics fandom for his... evocative... descriptions of his parliamentary colleagues.
Life and Career[edit | edit source]
Early Life[edit | edit source]
Tom went to the King Charles I School in Kidderminster before attending the University of Hull. He was active in student politics at university, including being a member of the university's Labour club, and was Chair of the National Organisation of Labour Students from 1992-1993.
Pre-political Career[edit | edit source]
Tom worked as a marketing officer and account executive.
Early Political Career[edit | edit source]
In 1993, Tom started work for the Labour Party as National Developement Officer for Youth. He worked on the 1997 general election campaign and then became National Political Officer for the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union.
Parliamentary Career[edit | edit source]
Backbenches[edit | edit source]
Tom was elected to the House of Commons in 2001. By the end of 2002, he had served on a Home Affairs Select Committee, which produced a report backing the possible legalisation of some drug, campaigned to ban the sale of albums by convicted sex offender Gary Glitter and introduced a a Ten Minute Rule Bill to change the organ donation laws from opt-in to opt-out.
In 2003 Tom voted in favour of the Iraq War and subsequently voted against any investigation into it. In 2004 Tom headed up the Labour Party's campaign in the Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election. Labour retained the seat and it was seen as a big win for Tom given the hostile political climate against Labour thanks to the Iraq War. However, Tom and the campaign came under criticism for their tactics, in particular a leaflet proclaiming "Labour is on your side – the Lib Dems are on the side of failed asylum seekers".
In Government and Call for Blair's Resignation[edit | edit source]
In September 2004 following the successful by-election campaign, Tom was promoted to Assisted Government Whip and then again in May 2006 to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence. At the MoD Tom helped secure posthumous pardons for those shot for cowardice in the First World War.
Despite holding ministerial office at the time, Tom signed a letter drafted by Chris Bryant urging then Prime Minister Tony Blair to stand down in September 2006. Rather than withdraw his signature as the then Chief Whip asked, Tom resigned and released a further statement calling for Tony Blair to follow his example:
Blair was quoted as saying Tom was "disloyal, discourteous and wrong". It later came to light at the the day before it became known that Tom had signed the letter, he had gone to visit his good friend and impatient leader in waiting Gordon Brown. Tom denied any talk of politics took place that day and that he was just dropping off a present for Gordon's new baby.
When Gordon did eventually become Prime Minister, Tom was brought back into government as Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office. He took a keen interest "digital affairs" and making non-personal government data more available to the public. He came into conflict with Peter Mandelson over the Digital Economy Act which Tom was firmly against. Tom even joined in protests outside parliament in reaction to the bill.
Expenses Scandal[edit | edit source]
Like almost every other MP, Tom got caught in the expenses scandal. However, his issue was not flipping homes or moats and duck houses, but food. It was discovered that Tom had claimed the maximum allowance (£4,800) per year for food. One of the receipts which came to light, it appeared that he charged the taxpayer for a "pizza wheel" from Marks & Spencer. However, Tom pointed out that since he had spent £150 that shop, the pizza wheel was thrown in for free.
In Opposition[edit | edit source]
Phone Hacking[edit | edit source]
Tom became most well known in fandom for his work in opposition, in particular his work against News International and the phone hacking scandal. As a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Tom questioned Rupert Murdoch, his son James and former editor of News of the World Rebekah Brooks. In particular, Tom got well known for comparing Murdoch to a mafia boss, an image which sticks to this day.
Tom even wrote a book about the phone hacking scandal and News International called Dial M for Murdoch.
Westminster Paedophile Network Allegations[edit | edit source]
On 24 October 2012, Tom suggested in the House of Commons that a network of paedophiles may have existed in parliament at the highest levels and that a former Prime Minister may have protected the individuals involved. He did not name names and called for the Metropolitan Police to reopen a closed investigation into these allegations. In December of the same year, the Met Police stated that thanks to the evidence that Tom had given to them, they had established Operation Fairbank to look into the claims. As a result, two other criminal investigations into the allegations and more that arose were set up and continue to this day.
In 2015 Tom was Widely criticised for refusing to comment after it was revealed that he had pushed the police into investigating rape allegations against Leon Brittan even though the police did not think they initially had enough evidence to consider a formal investigation. Watson had repeated the allegations after Leon Brittan's death and Leon's family weren't told of the dropped investigation until after Leon had already died. The rape allegations were examined by the Metropolitan Police but officers could not find evidence that would lead to further action.
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party[edit | edit source]
The day after Labour lost the 2015 general election, Tom announced that he would stand for the deputy leadership of the Labour party in the upcoming elections. He was the first to declare, quickly became the front runner in the contest and on 12 September 2015 he was declared the winner. Despite his position within the party, Jeremy Corbyn didn't tell Tom about his plan to make Shami Chakrabarti a member of the Lords so Tom found out by watching TV just like everyone else.
Tom has spent a lot of time in his current role trying to get the PLP to calm down and work with Corbyn - and trying to convince Corbyn that not every MP is out to get him.
| Full List of Appointments |
|---|
| • PPS to Dawn Primarolo, Paymaster General (13 May, 2004 - 2 November, 2004) |
| • Assistant Whip (10 September, 2004 - 11 May, 2005) |
| • Lords Commissioner (11 May, 2005, - 8 May, 2006) |
| • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence (8 May, 2006 - 7 September, 2006) |
| • Assistant Whip (28 June, 2007 - 29 January, 2008) |
| • Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (25 January, 2008 - 10 June, 2009) |
| • Deputy Chair of the Labour Party and Campaign Coordinator (7 October, 2011 – 4 July, 2013) |
| • Deputy Leader of the Labour Party (12 September, 2015 – present) |
| • Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office (14 September 2015 – 7 October 2016) |
| • Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (7 October 2016 - present) |
Personal Life[edit | edit source]
Tom and his wife separated in 2012. He blames the intrusive bullying of News International and the stresses of taking on the Murdoch empire for the breakup of his marriage. The couple have two children together. Tom's current partner, Stephanie Peacock, his former constituency secretary 20 years his junior, was selected as Labour PPC for Tom's neighbouring constituency of Halesowen and Rowley Regis but she lost the 2015 general election to the sitting conservative.
Tom is a gamer and regularly reviews games for the New Statesman. He confesses to spending way too much time playing Portal 2.
He also likes the music of Elvis Costello and Bully Bragg.
Tom is a self-described feminist.
Observations About His Colleagues[edit | edit source]
Tom has made some interesting remarks about Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna:
Take potential future leader, Chuka Umunna, for example. Intelligent, dynamic, articulate. Clean shaven, he’s perhaps the most beautiful man who has ever sat on the green benches. He’s perfect. He’ll have his own statue with a brass plaque one day.
You see my point? If I am jealous of young Chuka for his six pack, natural athleticism and exquisite taste in clothing and skin products, imagine what must be going through the heads of the people who actually want his job?
He is less complimentary about Michael Gove:
Portrayal[edit | edit source]
In Fanon[edit | edit source]
Meme[edit | edit source]
Tom Watson generally shows up in opposition to News International, sometimes in the company of Chris Bryant.
Shipping[edit | edit source]
Tom's main ship is with James Murdoch, whose blushing performance, memory lapses and tendency to call Tom "Sir" at his Select Committee hearing led loliticians to posit a D/s relationship of one sort or another. Sometimes Tom is a white knight rescuing James from his abusive family, in other verses James is using sex to manipulate him and divert the phone hacking investigation. Occasionally Philip Davies or Chris Bryant get in on the action.
Tom is also shipped with Jacob Rees-Mogg.
