For over two decades, Thom Brooks has served as an adviser to government departments, parliamentary committees and public institutions on some of the most significant legal and constitutional questions facing the United Kingdom.
His advisory work spans the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Law Commission, with contributions acknowledged in Parliament, cited across four House of Lords committee reports and formally recognised in the passage of the National Security Act 2023. In January 2026 he gave oral evidence to the House of Lords Justice & Home Affairs Committee, and his analysis was drawn on throughout the Committee’s report on Settlement, Citizenship and Integration (HL Paper 13, June 2026) and among the most frequently cited contributions to the inquiry. He also submitted written evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on citizenship and immigration.
His counsel is grounded in evidence and has been sought by governments of both parties over more than a decade. It is offered as a contribution to national life beyond his professional obligations at Durham University.
Institutional leadership
Government & parliamentary advisory work
Public service record
Citizenship & integration policy
Led the academic case for reform of the Life in the UK citizenship test over more than a decade, through two books, written evidence to parliamentary committees and a successful pitch that launched the House of Lords Justice & Home Affairs Committee inquiry now reshaping national integration policy. Advisory work directly informed the Law Commission’s simplification of the Immigration Rules cited across 14 sections of the final report.
National security & constitutional affairs
Formally acknowledged in Parliament for advisory contribution to the National Security Act 2023 following sustained engagement with the Home Office. Cited by the Electoral Commission on the EU referendum question; the wording recommended was adopted by government.
Justice & sentencing
Invited to advise the Ministry of Justice on principled punishment and sentencing guidelines (September 2024). Scholarship on punishment quoted by the Connecticut Supreme Court in State v. Santiago (II), 318 Conn. 1 (2015), the landmark ruling abolishing the death penalty in his native state.
Extremism & social cohesion
Invited to advise the Extremism Threats Unit, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (October 2024) on integration and community cohesion.
Governance of the legal profession
Member, QC (Hons) selection panel (2019–2021). Chair, LNAT consortium (2021–2022), contributing to governance of access to legal education nationally.
International contribution
His scholarship has also been relied on in public life in the United States, including by the Connecticut Supreme Court in State v. Santiago (II) (2015) and he serves on the editorial advisory board of the Review of Politics at the University of Notre Dame. A dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States, he has held visiting positions at Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, Yale, Oxford, Penn and NYU.
Professor Brooks welcomes approaches for parliamentary and policy briefings, speaking engagements and media commentary.
Get in touch * Policy impact briefing (PDF) * Full CV (PDF) * Speaking engagements