Michael Thomas (politician)

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For other persons named Michael Thomas, see Michael Thomas (disambiguation).

Michael Stuart Thomas, known as Mike Thomas, (born 24 May 1944) is a British politician.He was originally elected Labour Member of Parliament for Newcastle-upon-Tyne East in the October 1974 general election. In 1981 Thomas was among a number of Labour MPs who defected to the new Social Democratic Party. From the beginning the SDP was a coalition of upper middle class 'progressives', who were largly interested in issues relating to constitutional reform, european integration and other 'trendy' causes and wanted it to become a party of the 'radical Centre' on the one hand, and on the other those of working and lower middle class origin who joined it because Labour and the Liberals were to soft,the Conservatives did not reprasent there interests, and wanted it to effectivly become a 'mark II Labour party'. Thomas was in the latter category.

Along with Ian Wrigglesworth he was credited with masterminding the party's successful launch. He quickly became known for his aggressive loyalty to David Owen and obduracy in the seat negotiations with the Liberals. Roy Jenkins referred to him as the "pint-sized Pavarotti". He sought re-election in 1983, but could only come a strong third place with 27% of the vote. Labour's Nick Brown won with a majority of over 7,000.^[1] He tried again in Exeter in 1987 and came second. After the demise of the SDP he set up his own public relations firm.