Constituency : West Monmouthshire 1904-09, 1909-18 ,Ebbw Vale 1918-20 ( Labour )
Thomas took over at West Monmouthshire on the death of Sir William Harcourt. He easily defeated an Independent Conservative candidate. The Liberals' preferred nominee Marshall Warmington the previous MP who'd made way for Harcourt in 1895, refused to oppose a labour candidate. Some Nonconformist ministers in the West Monmouth Liberal Association were fiercely opposed to Thomas's candidature even though he was a congregational deacon.
Thomas was a Lib-Lab candidate, He was a miner who had started as a collier boy at 12. He was General Secretary of the South Wales Miners Federation.
Thomas's maiden speech was in favour of shortening the hours of boys in the mines.
Thomas was unopposed in 1906.
In 1909 Thomas obeyed the instruction to leave the Liberals.They did not oppose him in either of the 1910 elections.
Thomas was unopposed in 1918.
Thomas resigned his seat in 1920. He was Vice-President of the Miners Federation of Great Britain from 1924 and |President from 1929.
He died in 1931 aged 72.
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