Tom Brake
{{Short description|British Liberal Democrat politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
| name = Tom Brake
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Official portrait of Tom Brake crop 2.jpg
| office = Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
| primeminister = David Cameron
| term_start = 4 November 2014
| term_end = 8 May 2015
| predecessor = Mark Hunter
| successor = Julian Smith
| office1 = Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
| primeminister1 = David Cameron
| term_start1 = 4 September 2012
| term_end1 = 8 May 2015
| predecessor1 = David Heath
| successor1 = Thérèse Coffey
{{collapsed infobox section begin |Lib Dem Spokesperson}}
| office2 = Liberal Democrat Spokesman for the Duchy of Lancaster
| leader2 = Jo Swinson
Davey · Brinton
| term_start2 = 21 August 2019
| term_end2 = 13 December 2019
| predecessor2 = Office established
| successor2 = Office abolished
| office3 = Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Exiting the European Union
| leader3 = Tim Farron
Vince Cable
Jo Swinson
Davey · Brinton
| term_start3 = 16 June 2017
| term_end3 = 13 December 2019
| predecessor3 = Nick Clegg
| successor3 = Alistair Carmichael
| office4 = Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for International Trade
| leader4 = Tim Farron
Vince Cable
Jo Swinson
| term_start4 = 16 June 2017
| term_end4 = 21 August 2019
| predecessor4 = Nick Clegg
| successor4 = Chuka Umunna
| office5 = Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Office of First Secretary of State
| leader5 = Tim Farron
Vince Cable
| term_start5 = 16 June 2017
| term_end5 = 20 December 2017
| predecessor5 = Alistair Carmichael
| successor5 = Sir Ed Davey (2019) (de facto)
| office6 = Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
| leader6 = Tim Farron
| term_start6 = 29 July 2015
| term_end6 = 16 June 2017
| predecessor6 = Tim Farron
| successor6 = Jo Swinson
| office7 = Chief Whip of the Liberal Democrats
| leader7 = Tim Farron
| term_start7 = 29 July 2015
| term_end7 = 16 June 2017
| predecessor7 = Don Foster
| successor7 = Alistair Carmichael
| office8 = Liberal Democrat Leader of the House of Commons
| leader8 = Nick Clegg
Tim Farron
| term_start8 = 7 January 2015
| term_end8 = 16 June 2017
| predecessor8 = David Heath (2010)
| successor8 = Wera Hobhouse (2020)
| office9 = Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Transport
| leader9 = Charles Kennedy
Menzies Campbell
| term_start9 = 16 May 2005
| term_end9 = 8 March 2006
| predecessor9 = John Thurso
| successor9 = Susan Kramer
| office10 = Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for International Development
| leader10 = Charles Kennedy
| term_start10 = 12 October 2003
| term_end10 = 16 May 2005
| predecessor10 = Jenny Tonge
| successor10 = Andrew George
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
| office11 = Member of Parliament
for Carshalton and Wallington
| term_start11 = 1 May 1997
| term_end11 = 6 November 2019
| predecessor11 = Nigel Forman
| successor11 = Elliot Colburn
| birth_name = Thomas Anthony Brake
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|5|6|df=y}}
| birth_place = Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Liberal Democrats
| spouse = {{marriage|Candida Goulden|1998}}
| children = 2
| education = Imperial College London
| website = {{url|tombrake.co.uk|Official website}}
{{url|parliament.uk/biographies/commons/tom-brake/151|Commons website}}
| caption = Official portrait, 2017
}}
Thomas Anthony Brake (born 6 May 1962) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Carshalton and Wallington in London from 1997 to 2019.
He was appointed Director of the cross party pressure group Unlock Democracy in October 2020.{{cite web|url=https://unlockdemocracy.org.uk/blog-1/tom-brake-appointed-unlock-democracy-director|title=Tom Brake appointed Director of Unlock Democracy|access-date=6 October 2020}}
Early life
Brake was born in Melton Mowbray and moved to France when he was eight. He was educated at the Lycée International school in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the western suburbs of Paris, and Imperial College London, where he obtained a BSc in Physics in 1983. He was a computer software consultant with Hoskyns (Capgemini) from 1983 until his election to the UK Parliament in 1997.
Political career
=Early career=
Brake was actively involved in human rights issues as a student. He was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Hackney in 1988, leaving the council in 1990. In 1994 Brake was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Sutton and sat on the council until 1998.
Brake stood for election to Parliament at the 1992 general election in Carshalton and Wallington, but was defeated by Conservative Nigel Forman.
=Parliamentary career=
In what proved to be a close contest, Brake was elected at the 1997 general election as the Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington, beating Nigel Forman with a majority of 2,267, and remained MP there until he lost the seat at the 2019 general election. He made his maiden speech on 10 June 1997. Brake defeated Conservative Ken Andrew in 2001, 2005 and again in 2010 with an increased majority. In 2015 his majority was reduced to 1,510, narrowly ahead of Conservative Matthew Maxwell-Scott.
After the 1997 election, party leader Paddy Ashdown placed Brake on the frontbench as a spokesman on the Environment, Transport and the Regions. Following the 2001 General Election, then party leader Charles Kennedy appointed him a spokesman on Transport, Local Government and the Regions. In 2002 he became a Transport spokesman. He joined the Liberal Democrat frontbench team in 2003 as the lead International Development spokesman. After the 2005 General Election he became the Transport spokesman. He was relieved of this position under the new leadership of Sir Menzies Campbell in March 2006, and later that year became spokesperson for local government. In 2007 Brake became spokesperson for London and the Olympics. In 2008 he was also appointed as a Home Affairs spokesperson.
In June 2010 Brake was named Co-Chair of the new Liberal Democrat Backbench Committee on Home Affairs, Justice and Equalities. Brake Co-Chaired the committee alongside Baroness Hamwee and Lord Thomas of Gresford OBE QC.{{cite web|url=http://tombrake.co.uk/pages/biography.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022151101/http://www.tombrake.co.uk/pages/biography.html|url-status=dead|title=Biography at TomBrake.co.uk|archive-date=22 October 2010}}
In September 2010 Brake attempted to introduce a bill "to amend the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to remove provisions permitting Ministers to overrule decisions of the Information Commissioner and Information Tribunal; to limit the time allowed for public authorities to respond to requests involving consideration of the public interest; to amend the definition of public authorities; and for connected purposes."{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm100907/debtext/100907-0002.htm#10090737000001|title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 07 Sep 2010 (pt 0002)|work=parliament.uk|access-date=17 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025212013/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm100907/debtext/100907-0002.htm#10090737000001|archive-date=25 October 2016|url-status=live}}
On 11 June 2011, it was announced Brake would be appointed a Privy Counsellor in the Queen's 2011 Birthday Honours list.{{London Gazette |issue=59808 |date=11 June 2011 |page=1 |supp=y}}
On 4 September 2012 he was appointed Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, replacing Liberal Democrat David Heath MP who was promoted to Minister of State in DEFRA. Before he was appointed Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, Brake was the Secretary of the All-Party Group for World Government, Treasurer of the All-Party Human Rights group, a member of the Franco British Parliamentary Relations group.[http://www.oneworldtrust.org/?display=pgwg All Party Parliamentary Group for World Governance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206094900/http://www.oneworldtrust.org/?display=pgwg |date=6 February 2007 }} – One World Trust Website
Between 2014 and 2015, Brake was an Assistant Whip for HM's Treasury. In January 2015, Brake was appointed to the Liberal Democrat General Election Cabinet as the party's Leader of the House of Commons and London spokesperson.
On 29 July 2015, Brake was named as foreign affairs spokesperson and party chief whip.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33700930 |title=Tim Farron unveils his Lib Dem front bench team|work=BBC News |date=29 July 2015 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122190931/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33700930 |archivedate=22 November 2018 |accessdate=24 March 2025}}
In June 2017, Brake was appointed as a Liberal Democrat spokesperson for international trade and European affairs.{{cite web |url=http://www.libdems.org.uk/liberal-democrats-shadow-cabinet |title=Liberal Democrats announce Shadow Cabinet |access-date=17 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617211057/http://www.libdems.org.uk/liberal-democrats-shadow-cabinet |archive-date=17 June 2017 |url-status=live }}
In an interview with British-American centrist Owen Prell, who was visiting on behalf of Unite America, in Brake's Westminster office in June 2017, Brake greatly attributed the inability of his party to perform better in House of Commons elections to first-past-the-post.{{cite news|last= Prell|first= Owen|date= 7 July 2020|title=An American Centrist Looks Across the Pond|url=https://medium.com/@bayscribe/an-american-centrist-looks-across-the-pond-4eecc51da685|publisher=Medium}}
Brake lost his seat in the 2019 general election to Elliot Colburn of the Conservative Party.{{cite web |date=13 December 2019 |title=London's longest serving Lib Dem MP is ousted in just a handful of political changes in the capital |url=https://www.itv.com/news/london/2019-12-13/london-s-longest-serving-lib-dem-mp-is-ousted-in-just-a-handful-of-political-changes-in-the-capital/ |access-date=19 January 2020 |website=ITV News }}
=Subsequent career=
In October 2020, Brake was appointed as the new director of Unlock Democracy,{{cite web|title=Tom Brake, Former MP, Appointed As Director Of Unlock Democracy|url=https://unlockdemocracy.org.uk/blog-1/tom-brake-appointed-unlock-democracy-director|access-date=6 October 2020|website=openDemocracy}} an organisation which campaigns for a more participatory democracy in Britain, founded upon a written constitution.{{cite web|title=What We Want|url=https://unlockdemocracy.org.uk/new-constitution|access-date=16 September 2020|website=Unlock Democracy}} He has said that new rules should be introduced to require MPs to publish employment agreements linked to their political activities, and meanwhile should make the information available on a voluntary basis.{{cite web|title=MPs keep second job details secret |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/14/mps-keep-second-job-details-secret-for-years |newspaper =The Guardian |date=14 November 2021 |author=Jon Ungoed-Thomas |access-date=15 November 2021}}
He is an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.{{cite web|title=National Secular Society Honorary Associates|url=https://secularism.org.uk/honorary-associates.html|website=National Secular Society|access-date=26 August 2019}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
- [http://www.tombrake.co.uk/ Tom Brake MP] official site
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090103110943/http://www.libdems.org.uk/people/tom-brake Profile] at the Liberal Democrats
- {{UK MP links | parliament = tom-brake/151 | hansard = mr-tom-brake | hansardcurr = 2268 | guardian = 562/tom-brake | publicwhip = Tom_Brake | theywork = tom_brake | record = Tom-Brake/Carshalton-and-Wallington/1076 | bbc = 25726.stm | journalisted = tom-brake }}
- [https://www.theguardian.com/profile/tom-brake?INTCMP=SRCH Contributor page] at The Guardian
- {{C-SPAN|1000673}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=Nigel Forman}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament
for Carshalton and Wallington|years=1997–2019}}
{{s-aft|after=Elliot Colburn}}
|-
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=Don Foster}}
{{s-ttl|title=Liberal Democrat Chief Whip of the House of Commons|years=2015–2017}}
{{s-aft|after=Alistair Carmichael}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brake, Tom}}
Category:Alumni of Imperial College London
Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Category:People from Melton Mowbray
Category:People from Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Category:Councillors in the London Borough of Hackney