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Tom lives in the Sandwell with his wife Siobhan and son Malachy. Following his election to Parliament in June 2001 with a 9,763 majority, Tom was appointed to the Home Affairs Select Committee. In 2003, Tom was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to The Paymaster General, Dawn Primarolo. He joined the government whips office at the end of 2004. In May 2006 he was appointed as the Under Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans - a post he left five months later after calling on Tony Blair to resign.
Tom has sat on the Standing Committee for the Proceeds of Crime Bill, as well as the Standing Committee for the Communications Bill, the Human Tissue Bill, The Civil Partnerships Bill and the Gambling Bill.
He presented the Organ Donation (Presumed Consent and Safeguards) Bill to Parliament in March 2002.
Before becoming an MP Tom was the political officer at the AEEU engineering union. He has also worked for the Save The Children Fund.
Tom joined the Labour Party when he was 15. He has held several positions within the Party at a national, regional and local level. These include membership of the Labour Party's West Midlands Executive since 1997; member of Labour's National Policy Forum also from 1997; Chairman Wyre Forest CLP 1998 -2000; Chair of Labour Students 1992-93. He was also the Labour Party's deputy general election co-ordinator until 1997.
He is the co-author of of 'Votes
For All', published by the Fabian Society in 2000, which examined the introduction
of compulsory voting. He authored "Taking
responsibility - dealing with the legacy of radioactive waste" (Fabian
Sociey 2002).
His policy interests include: energy, defence and sport.
Outside politics his hobbies and interests include: watching football, gardening and music.
Tom’s entry in the Register of Member’s Interests
