Thomas-Symonds was born in Panteg Hospital, Griffithstown, Torfaen, and was brought up in Blaenavon. His father was a steelworker and industrial chemist, and his mother was a secretary. He attended St. Felix R.C. Primary School, Blaenavon, and St. Alban's R.C. High School, Pontypool. He then studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, between 1998 and 2001, where he gained a first.
Career
Legal career
Thomas-Symonds was called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn in October 2004 and developed a practice specialising in chancery and commercial law.
Academic career
Thomas-Symonds was appointed a tutor at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford at the age of 21. He was later a lecturer in politics at the college, teaching British Politics and Government since 2000; Modern British Government and Politics; Government and Politics of Europe; and Government and Politics of the United States. Thomas-Symonds taught for other Oxford colleges, including Harris Manchester College. He also taught US Politics on the Oxford Department of Continuing Education's "Foundations of Diplomacy" course. Between 2008 and 2009, he was the politics tutor of Kayleigh McEnany, who is currently the White House Press Secretary. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 2012. Thomas-Symonds has published two political biographies: Nye: The Political Life of Aneurin Bevan and Attlee: A Life in Politics.
Political career
Thomas-Symonds was selected as prospective Labour parliamentary candidate for Torfaen on 7 March 2015 and subsequently won the seat in the General Election on 7 May 2015. He made his maiden speech on 28 May 2015, without notes. Chris Bryant MP said he had delivered the speech “with panache”. After a brief stint on the Justice Select Committee, he was appointed Shadow Pensions Minister on 17 September 2015 before being promoted to Shadow Employment Minister on 11 January 2016. He resigned the role of Shadow Employment Minister on 27 June 2016, later supporting Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election. On 11 October 2016 he accepted the position of Shadow Solicitor General and on 3 July 2017 he was appointed as Shadow Security Minister within the Shadow Home Affairs Team. He has served as Chair of four All-Party Parliamentary Groups: Off-Patent Drugs; Industrial Heritage; Legal & Constitutional Affairs; and Archives & History. Nick Thomas-Symonds was drawn in the ballot for a Private Members' Bill on 4 June 2015 and introduced the Off-Patent Drugs Bill. This ran out of time at Second Reading on 6 November 2015, but substantial parts of the Bill were later incorporated into the Access to Medical Treatments Bill on 29 January 2016. As a result of promises secured by Thomas-Symonds, the British National Formulary has started to include off-label drugs in their new indication where there is sufficient evidence. On 8 December 2015, Nick Thomas-Symonds was chosen as 'Member to Watch' at the Welsh Politician of the Year Awards.
Personal life
Thomas-Symonds is married, and has three children.
Selected works
Articles
"" Gwent Local History, Volume 97, Autumn 2004..
"Michael Foot’s Handling of the Militant Tendency: A Reinterpretation", Contemporary British History, Volume 19, No 1, Spring 2005.
"Oratory, Rhetoric and Politics: Neil Kinnock’s Thousand Generations Speech of 1987", Llafur: Journal of the Welsh People's History Society, Volume 9, No. 3, 2006.
"The Hard Sell: When does a new car actually belong to the purchaser?" Solicitors’ Journal, Volume 154, No. 35, 21 September 2010.
