Constituency : Merionethshire 1886-99
Thomas was elected at Merionethshire after Henry Robertson declined to stand again in opposition to the Home Rule policy.
Thomas, generally known as T.E,. was the son of a tenant farmer . He was educated at Aberystwyth College and Oxford. He worked briefly as a journalist and private tutor before becoming private secretary to the Cheshire MP Sir John Brunner.
Thomas quickly became a leading radical voice on Welsh concerns. In 1890 he called for a legislative assembly for Wales and lead the organisation , Cymru Fydd, seeking to achieve it. He was a close friend of both Lloyd George and Asquith . He was a prominent campaigner for Welsh disestablishment.He played a part in securing the Welsh Intermediate and Technical Education Act of 1889.
Thomas sat on a number of Welsh education bodies.
In 1890 Thomas was seriously ill after catching typhoid fever in Egypt.
In 1892 Thomas became Deputy Whip in Gladstone's final administration. He was promoted to Chief Whip by Rosebery.
Thomas was a keen cyclist.
The Liberal historian Roy Douglas describes him as being "of quite exceptional calibre".
He died in Cannes in 1899 aged 40.
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