Nick Thomas-Symonds is the Labour MP for Torfaen, having first been elected to parliament at the 2015 general election.

In the 2024 general election for Torfaen, Thomas-Symonds received 15,176 votes, representing 42.5% of the vote share. The Reform UK candidate, Ian Williams, came second with 7,854 votes (22.0%), while the Conservative candidate, Nathan Edmunds, secured 5,737 votes (16.1%). Thomas-Symonds was duly elected with a majority of 7,322.  

Political Career

Thomas-Symonds served as minister of state at the Cabinet Office (minister for the constitution and European Union relations) from July 2024 to July 2026.

In this role, Thomas-Symonds’ responsibilities included overseeing UK-EU relations, government inquiries policy (including the response to the Infected Blood Inquiry) and constitutional matters including House of Lords reform.

Thomas-Symonds left government as part of the July 2026 cabinet reshuffle conducted by Andy Burnham upon his appointment as prime minister.

During his tenure in the Cabinet Office, Thomas-Symonds took charge of Labour’s manifesto pledge to introduce “legislation to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords”. This led to the passage of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026, which successfully removed the remaining 92 hereditary peers from the chamber. Thomas-Symonds characterised the reform as the removal of an “archaic and undemocratic principle”.

After the act received royal assent, he stated: “Hereditary peerages are an archaic and undemocratic principle. I am proud that we have fulfilled a key manifesto pledge of this government.

“Our parliament should always be a place where talents are recognised and merit counts. It should never be a gallery of old boys’ networks, nor a place where titles, many of which were handed out centuries ago, hold power over the will of the people.”

In a speech delivered on 4 February 2025 at the UK-EU forum’s annual conference, Thomas-Symonds outlined three pillars – prosperity, safety and security – that would shape the Labour government’s attempted reset of relations between the UK and EU.

He stated: “This British government was elected on a mandate to strengthen national security by reconnecting with our allies, to increase people’s safety through strong borders, and to increase prosperity through growth.”

He added: “The time for ideologically driven division is over, time for ruthless pragmatism is now”.

Prior to the 2024 general election, which saw Labour returned to power after 14 years in opposition, Thomas-Symonds held a series of senior shadow ministerial posts. Most notably, he was shadow home secretary from April 2020 to November 2021. He later served as shadow secretary of state for international trade (November 2021 – September 2023) and shadow minister without portfolio in the Cabinet Office (September 2023 – May 2024).

Thomas-Symonds, seen as a close ally of Keir Starmer, loyally accepted these successive demotions. In a May 2020 profile in the New Statesman, published during his time as shadow home secretary, one MP described Thomas-Symonds as occupying the “dead-centre of the Labour Party, someone who will try and build bridges with all wings.”

During Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as Labour leader, Thomas-Symonds served as shadow security minister from July 2017 to April 2020, shadow solicitor general from October 2016 to April 2020, and shadow minister for work and pensions from September 2015 to June 2016.

In June 2016, Thomas-Symonds was among those to resign from the shadow frontbench in protest at Corbyn’s leadership and his approach to the Brexit referendum.

In his resignation letter, Thomas-Symonds wrote: “I spent over 20 years as a Labour Party activist, and have served as a branch secretary and constituency party secretary for many years. I feel there is now a very real risk of the Labour Party splitting without a change of leadership.

“A split would make a Conservative government far more likely in the future, which would be a disaster for my constituents in Torfaen.

“In my view, the Labour Party urgently needs a leader to unite it going forward and to give the party the best possible chance of doing well in a general election. In light of the events of recent days, I have very reluctantly drawn the conclusion that a different leader is required to do that, and I am very sorry to say that I have lost confidence in your ability to unite the party and take on the Tories.”

As a backbencher, Thomas-Symonds served as a member of the House of Commons justice committee from July to October 2015.

Thomas-Symonds delivered his maiden speech on 28 May 2015 during a debate on the queen’s speech.

In it, he said: “The past five years have been extremely difficult for the people of Torfaen, and I fear on the basis of this queen’s speech that the next five years will be more difficult still. I worry about cuts in our public services and in police numbers to a police service that is already severely under strain.

“We need a government, more broadly, who change their economic policy, who truly work for the ordinary men and women of my constituency – a constituency in which scores of families have been forced over the past five years to rely, on a weekly basis, on food banks.

“We need a government who seek to promote, not undermine, employment rights; a government who look to give a future to people who are on zero-hours contracts so that they can move away from them and build a secure future for their families.

“Above all, for security of employment in Torfaen, we need a yes vote in the European referendum that will come before the end of 2017.”

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Thomas-Symonds was one of 175 Labour MPs who nominated Bridget Phillipson for the party’s deputy leadership in September 2025. The election followed the resignation of Angela Rayner, who stepped down as deputy prime minister and deputy party leader after an investigation into her tax affairs. It marked the first time since 2007 that Labour had held a deputy leadership contest while in government.

Phillipson, the serving education secretary, was widely viewed as the candidate favoured by Downing Street and the party leadership. She secured 175 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), comfortably exceeding the 80 required to reach the final ballot. She was ultimately defeated by Lucy Powell.

Labour leadership 2020: Thomas-Symonds was one of 82 Labour MPs who nominated Keir Starmer for the party’s leadership in early 2020. The election was triggered by the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn following the party’s defeat in the 2019 general election, which resulted in Labour’s fewest seats in the House of Commons since 1935.

Starmer’s 82 nominations were the highest of any candidate. The shadow Brexit secretary won a decisive victory in the first round with 56.2% of the vote, defeating Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy.

Labour leadership 2015: Thomas-Symonds was one of 68 Labour MPs who nominated Andy Burnham for the party’s leadership in June 2015. The election followed the resignation of Ed Miliband after the party’s defeat in the 2015 general election. It was the first contest held under the “one member, one vote” system, which replaced the previous electoral college.

Burnham, the shadow health secretary, was initially considered the frontrunner. He secured 68 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), comfortably exceeding the 35 required to reach the final ballot. He ultimately finished second in the contest with 19% of the vote, losing to Jeremy Corbyn in the first round.

Corbyn loyalty list: In March 2016, Thomas-Symonds was labelled as “core group plus” by the Corbyn leadership in a leaked list which categorised Labour MPs by their perceived loyalty. This label suggested the Corbyn leadership viewed Thomas-Symonds as a reliable supporter.

Labour leadership 2016: Thomas-Symonds was one of 162 Labour MPs who nominated Owen Smith for the party’s leadership in July 2016. The election was triggered by a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn following the EU referendum, which led to a wave of shadow cabinet resignations and a vote of no confidence supported by 172 MPs. Smith, the former shadow work and pensions secretary, was ultimately defeated by Corbyn, who won with an increased mandate of 61.8% of the vote.

Factional identity and party tradition

Tribune group (2017): Thomas-Symonds was listed among the supporters of the Tribune parliamentary group – a caucus generally described as representing the party’s “soft left”.

The Tribune group was initially formed in 1964 to support the newspaper of the same name. It served as a prominent forum for those parliamentarians situated on the left of the Labour Party – but it split over Tony Benn’s campaign for the deputy leadership in 1981. Benn’s supporters founded the Campaign group – which evolved into the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG). Today, the Bennite SCG is strongly associated with the Labour left tradition.

During the 1980s, the Tribune group emerged as a more natural home for those on Labour’s “soft left”.

In 2017, Efford officially re-launched the group with a new mission statement calling for “opportunity and aspiration” to be placed at the heart of the party’s programme. Efford said he had reformed the group to ensure that the centre-left of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) “have a space in which to put forward ideas and debate which has not been there under successive leaders”.

He added: “The view of Labour MPs at the moment tends to be that too much are just Blairites who want to stab Jeremy Corbyn in the back. We want to show that is not where we are, and that we want to develop our own ideas that represent the centre-left of the party.”

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Thomas-Symonds supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore disagreed with a majority of his constituents, 60.8% of whom voted to Leave.

Article 50: In February 2017, Thomas-Symonds voted in favour of the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. The legislation empowered the prime minister to notify the Council of the European Union of the UK’s intention to withdraw, formally triggering the process set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. MPs supported the bill by 498 votes to 114 at second reading.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Thomas-Symonds voted in favour of the government’s flagship welfare bill at second reading. The vote came after ministers agreed to significant concessions to avoid defeat via a mass rebellion of Labour MPs on 1 July 2025.

Assisted dying

Thomas-Symonds voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

In a statement setting out his position, issued shortly after the bill’s second reading. Thomas-Symonds said: “I did not feel able to support the legislation and wanted to set out the reasons. My core concern is about the adequacy of safeguards that are put in place for any legalisation of assisted dying.

“I worry about ill, vulnerable people being and/or feeling pressured into making decisions, or, indeed, putting pressure on themselves as they may feel they are becoming a burden to their families. As a result, in practice, however well-meaning the legislation, I am sceptical that the law can ever ensure that such a decision is free from pressure.”

Foreign policy and security

Trident renewal (2016): Thomas-Symonds voted in favour of a government motion calling for the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent system in July 2016. The motion, which was passed by 472 votes to 117, committed the UK to constructing a new fleet of submarines to carry the nation’s nuclear weapons. Labour was split over the issue with 140 of its 230 MPs going against leader Jeremy Corbyn and backing the motion.

Syria airstrikes (2015): Thomas-Symonds voted against a government motion to extend UK airstrikes against Isis from Iraq into Syria in December 2015. The motion, which was passed by 397 votes to 223 after a ten-hour debate in the House of Commons, authorised the RAF to conduct strikes against Isis targets in Syria.

Before Politics

Born in Griffithstown, Torfaen, on 26 May 1980, Thomas-Symonds grew up in nearby Blaenavon. He attended St Felix RC Primary School in Blaenavon and St Alban’s RC High School in Pontypool, where he later served as a school governor from 2007 to 2015.  

Thomas-Symonds read philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at St Edmund Hall, Oxford. He remained at St Edmund Hall as a tutor and lecturer in politics from the age of 21, teaching British, American and European government and politics until his election to parliament.  

Thomas-Symonds trained as a barrister, being called to the bar by Lincoln’s Inn in 2004. He developed a practice specialising in chancery and commercial law, based in Cardiff.

Thomas-Symonds was elected a fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS) in 2012.  

Personal Life

Thomas-Symonds’ father worked as a steelworker and industrial chemist, and his mother was a secretary.

Thomas-Symonds met his wife, Rebecca, while they were both students at St Alban’s R.C. High School. They are married and have three children, two daughters and a son. The family also has a dog named Pippa.  

Trivia

While teaching politics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, Thomas-Symonds tutored Kayleigh McEnany, who later served as White House press secretary under US President Donald Trump.  

Thomas-Symonds is one of seven Labour MPs who have hailed from the community of Abersychan in his Torfaen constituency. This list includes prominent figures like Roy Jenkins, Arthur Jenkins and Paul Murphy.

Thomas-Symonds is the author of three political biographies, namely Attlee: A Life in Politics (2010), Nye: The Political Life of Aneurin Bevan (2014) and Harold Wilson: The Winner (2022).