Month: June 2026

THOM BROOKS

Prof Thom Brooks, Durham University

A career of national contribution

➡️ Policy impact | Media | Speaking | Publications | Leadership | Contact

For over two decades, Thom Brooks’s work has moved directly from research into government, Parliament and the courts changing law, shaping legislation and informing judicial decisions at the highest level.

When the government needed to know how to ask the British public whether to leave the European Union, his contribution was cited. When the Connecticut Supreme Court abolished the death penalty, it cited his scholarship. When the House of Lords examined the Life in the UK citizenship test, it was Brooks who had first pitched the inquiry. When Parliament debated the National Security Act, a shadow minister rose to thank him by name.

Professor of Law, Ethics & Government at Durham University’s Law School and Principal of Collingwood College, he is widely recognised as the United Kingdom’s leading academic authority on citizenship, immigration and integration policy. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has described his book Becoming British as ‘a very good and thought-provoking read‘.

Outside 10 Downing Street 2025

In their own words

A very good and thought-provoking read.— Prime Minister Keir Starmer, on Becoming British

The man behind Leave and Remain.— ITV News

National contribution & public service record

Brooks giving evidence to the Lords Justice & Home Affairs Committee 2026
Giving oral evidence to the House of Lords Justice & Home Affairs Committee, January 2026
Parliamentary Engagement
Government Advisory Work
  • Informed the Law Commission’s simplification of the Immigration Rules (cited across 14 sections)
  • Cited by the Electoral Commission on the EU referendum question recommending the wording adopted by government
  • Sustained advisory work for the Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Law Commission spanning more than a decade
  • Invited to advise the Extremism Threats Unit, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (October 2024)
  • Invited to advise the Ministry of Justice on principled punishment and sentencing guidelines (September 2024)
  • Member, QC (Hons) selection panel (2019–2021) · Chair, LNAT consortium (2021–2022)
Leadership of public institutions
  • Principal, Collingwood College, Durham University supporting student leadership, civic opportunity and public engagement
  • Founding Director, Collingwood Future: a new national initiative on AI, ethics and leadership offered as a contribution to public benefit beyond professional obligation
  • Inaugural and longest-serving Dean, Durham Law School (2016–2021) where doubled size and achieved best-ever QS and Times Higher rankings
  • Executive committee member, Fabian Society (currently serving third term)
  • Principal Fellow, Advance HE (2022)
International Contribution
  • Scholarship cited by the Connecticut Supreme Court in its landmark ruling abolishing the death penalty (2015)
  • Visiting scholar at Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, Yale, Oxford, Penn and NYU
  • Appointed to editorial advisory board of the Review of Politics, University of Notre Dame (2026)
  • Work translated into Chinese, Czech and Portuguese; cited in courts and legislatures across multiple jurisdictions
  • Delivered talks in Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Serbia, Sweden, Turkey, UK and USA

Fellowships & honours

Fellow, Academy of Social Sciences: elected for distinguished contribution to social science and its application to public policy; one of the United Kingdom’s highest honours in the social sciences

Academic Bencher, Inner Temple: senior honorary appointment of the Inns of Court recognising exceptional contribution to law, among the most distinguished honours available to a legal scholar not called to the Bar.

Member, Academia Europaea; Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; Fellow of the Royal Historical Society; Principal Fellow of Advance HE; 112th President, Society of Legal Scholars (2020–21) (only the second President in the Society’s history not British or Irish by birth)

Jenny Jeger Prize, Fabian Society (2022): won for New Arrivals (described by POLITICO as the first major pamphlet on Labour’s immigration policy in over a decade); Top 100 Big Ideas for the Future: recognised by UK Research Councils for his unified theory of punishment; congratulated by House of Commons EDM 875 for transformative leadership of Durham Law School.

Books & selected publications

Punishment: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, forthcoming

Theories of Punishment. Cambridge University Press, forthcoming

Political Philosophy: The Fundamentals. Wiley-Blackwell, 2025

British Legal Reform: An Agenda for Change. Policy Press (eds with Catherine Atkinson MP and David Drew), 2024

Global Justice: An Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell, 2023

New Arrivals: A Fair Immigration Plan for Labour. Fabian Society, 2022 (won Jenny Jeger Prize)

Reforming the UK’s Citizenship Test. Bristol University Press, 2022

The Trust Factor. Methuen, 2022 (cited: House of Lords Queen’s Speech debate 2022)

Punishment: A Critical Introduction, 2nd edition. Routledge, 2021

The Oxford Handbook of Global Justice. Oxford University Press (ed.), 2020

Becoming British: UK Citizenship Examined. Biteback Publishing, 2016

Media & public engagements

A trusted and regular commentator on citizenship, immigration, justice and constitutional affairs for UK and international media.

Recent (2026): BBC Radio Scotland · Newsweek · the i paper 

Past experience: BBC Radio 4 · BBC News · BBC Radio Scotland · ITV News · Sky News · CNN · The Times · The Guardian · The Telegraph · The Independent · Newsweek · the i paper ·

Media Archive →

Get in touch

Thom Brooks welcomes approaches for parliamentary and policy briefings, speaking engagements, and media commentary on citizenship, immigration, justice and the rule of law.

➡️ Contact Thom Brooks | View full CV (pdf) | Speaking enquiries | Policy & consultancy