Early life and education Mark Thomas was born in
South London. His mother was a
midwife and his father a self-employed builder (and ex-
lay preacher). Thomas was educated at Macaulay Church of England Primary School, Victoria Rise, Clapham until 1974, where his party trick was to recite the first verses of the four
gospels from memory. He then won a scholarship to attend the independent
Christ's Hospital School, where he attained
O-levels and
A-levels in English, history, and politics and economics. He went on to be awarded a degree in Theatre Arts at
Bretton Hall College. During his time at Bretton Hall, he made his debut as a performer, co-writing and performing satirical sketches at
Wakefield Labour Club. Prior to his most renowned vehicle,
The Mark Thomas Comedy Product, Thomas was a frequent guest comic on the
BBC Radio 1 show
The Mary Whitehouse Experience, where he would do a routine about a specific topic of the week and involve studio audience members in the discussions. He would also occasionally play parts in sketches written by the show's main performers. He then became the resident
stand-up comic on
Saturday Zoo, a
Channel 4 comedy series first screened in 1993 and appeared on an episode of
Have I Got News for You. He co-presented the highly successful Radio 1 comedy talk show
Loose Talk with
Kevin Day, and is a founder member of the London
Comedy Store's hard hitting
Cutting Edge show. His political comedy show,
The Mark Thomas Comedy Product (later renamed as simply
The Mark Thomas Product, to reflect its increasing political agenda) on Channel 4 earned him criticism from
politicians but was seen by critics as a crucial investigative tool. In one edition, Thomas investigated the practice of avoiding inheritance tax by declaring art, furniture, homes and land available for public viewing. After discovering that
Conservative Member of Parliament (MP)
Nicholas Soames was claiming tax relief on a "three-tier mahogany buffet with partially reeded slender balustrade upright supports" on this basis, but without making any arrangements for the furniture to be inspected by the public, Thomas invented a 'National Soames Day' on which hundreds of people made appointments to see the furniture. Soames subsequently decided to pay the tax on the item and
Gordon Brown, then
Chancellor of the Exchequer, changed the law. In 2015, Thomas told
The Independent's Adam Jacques: "I try to find the good in my enemies. It's not unusual to be able to get on with people despite what they are doing being awful. The only person I have met who I considered to be without any redeeming features was [...] Nicholas Soames. [...] He was such a pantomime baddie." where
trade unions are targeted by
militia allegedly controlled by the government. He wrote a regular column for the
New Statesman between 2001 and 2007. The parliamentary committee which oversees weapons exports, the
House of Commons Quadripartite Select committee, commended him for his undercover work, which led to official warning letters being issued to a number of companies. His work in this area is covered in
As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture Trade, a book chronicling his experiences undercover, his political activism and his projects designed to find and report loopholes in arms trading laws, which culminated in a controversial un-broadcast
Newsnight report about the
Hinduja brothers. stand-up show in March 2011 Whilst promoting this book on his latest tour, Thomas organised mass lone demonstrations, in protest of the
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, an act of Parliament that prevents any demonstrations within London's
Parliament Square zone without prior police approval. The last event attracted over 100 individual protesters at the same time. In 2006, he was added to the
Guinness Book of Records for most demonstrations held on one day: 20 individual protests in 20 different locations. Although he actually performed 21 protests the first and last took place at the same location, so it was agreed that only 20 would count towards the record. His record was later beaten in 2010 by the
Freman College Amnesty group, who held 23 demonstrations. In 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the
University of Bradford, for services to peace and for his work as a comedian, political activist, presenter and investigative journalist, especially for his effective campaigning on the ethics of the arms trade. The university has a long-standing Department of
Peace Studies. For his 'It's The Stupid Economy' UK tour in 2009, Thomas played 55 shows over 14 weeks between March and end July, and encouraged each audience to come up with their own policies (silly or serious) that would somehow make their lives better, forming a "
People's Manifesto". Each audience then got to vote on their favourite policy of that evening and the winning suggestion then formed part of his manifesto which he will then campaign for and attempt to actually make at least some of the suggestions become reality. In April 2010, Thomas was awarded £1200 compensation for a search carried out by police in 2007. He had been unlawfully subject to a stop-and-search without adequate cause, after speaking at an anti-arms rally. During 2010 Thomas decided to go rambling in the Middle East and walked the entire length of the
Israeli Separation Barrier, crossing between the Israeli and the Palestinian side. His touring show entitled "Walking The Wall" (2011) was shortlisted for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression award and his book
Extreme Rambling recounted the story. Thomas revealed in 2013 that he had discovered, through a
Data Protection request, that he had been under police surveillance as a result of his investigative journalism for
Channel 4 and the
New Statesman and put on the domestic extremist database. He cautioned other journalists, "I apologise for the boastful tone but the police have monitored public interest investigations in my case since 1999. More importantly if the police are keeping tabs on a lightweight like myself then they are doing the same and more to others. This is more than supposition as I know of other
NUJ members on the database." began legal action against the force. The NDEDIU's reports obtained by Thomas described him as a "general rabble rouser and alleged comedian" and stated, "Mark Thomas stops. Has quantity of cress on rear of his cycle." He told
The Independent's Adam Lusher, "The police's powers of observation are to be admired, I did indeed have cress on my bike. [But] Is it really suitable to spend taxpayers' money observing the movement of cress?" In October 2025, Thomas joined the cast of the upcoming film
The Man with the Plan, about the
William Beveridge report, starring as the Narrator. == Archives ==