Tom Watson Civil Service Minister Cabinet Office working with fellow ministers Ed Miliband and Phil Hope.
Since being elected to Parliament in June 2001 to represent the people of West Bromwich East Tom has served as a Government Whip and Defence Minister as well as Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Treasury.
He’s steered the Armed Forces Act through parliament and sat on the committees that brought forward the Proceeds of Crime Bill, the Communications Bill, the Human Tissue Bill, the Civil Partnerships Bill and the Gambling Bill. He also introduced a Private Members Bill – Organ Donation (Presumed Consent with Safeguards) Bill. He also sat on the Home Affairs Select Committee under the Chairmanship of Chris Mullin.
He co-authored “Votes for All” which examined compulsory voting and “Taking Responsibility – dealing with the legacy of radioactive waste” both published by the Fabian Society.
Before entering the House of Commons, Tom worked as the Political Adviser to Sir Ken Jackson at the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union. He has also worked for the Labour Party and Save the Children. He served on the Rover Taskforce, the Government appointed body that helped extend the life of the Longbridge car plant.
Tom’s other policy areas include manufacturing, energy and law and order but his specialist interest is the digital world and social media.
Tom established the Power of Information Task Force to advance the recommendations in the Power of Information Report by Ed Mayo and Tom Steinberg.
In a speech outlining his ideas for the future direction of government policy in this area, Tom stated his belief in the power of mass collaboration.
That’s one of the reasons why he’s maintained this cranky old blog for over five years. We hope you enjoy it.
